LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

©|3p. _ Supijrig]^ fu. 



blielf-. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ESCHATOLOGY 



OR 



THE DOCTRINE OF THE LAST THINGS 



ACCORDING TO THE CHRONOLOGY AND 

/ 

SYMBOLISM OF THE APOCALYPSE 



F. G. HIBBARD, D.D. 



AUTHOR OF 



The Psalms Chronologically Arranged rvith Historical Introductions, The 

History and Geography of Palestine, The Cotnmentary 

on the Book o/ Psalms^ etc. 



Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and 
keep those things which are written ; for the time is at hand. Rev. i. 3. 



( SEP 1 1890 ; 1 

NEW YORK: HUNT &- EATON 
CINCINNA TI : CRA NS TON &= S TO WE 



Copyright, 1890, by 

HUNT & EATON, 

New York. 

Thk Library 
OF Congress 



t\te 



WASHINGTON 



TO 

THOSE WHO ARE 

"LOOKING FOR THAT BLESSED HOPE, AND THE GLORIOUS 

APPEARING OF THE GREAT GOD AND OUR 

SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST : " 

TO 

" ALL WHO LOVE HIS APPEARING : " 

THIS LATEST WORK OF ONE WHO, ON THE VERGE OF FOURSCORE 

YEARS, WATCHES AND WAITS IN JOYFUL EXPECTATION OF 

"THE COMING," IS HUMBLY AND PRAYERFULLY 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Introductory Statements 1 



CHAPTER II. 
The Epochs of the Seals. 

Tlie first seal — Second seal — Third seal — Fourth seal — 
Fifth seal — Sixth seal 11 

CHAPTER III. 
The Epochs of the Trumpets. 

The first trumpet — The second trumpet — The third trumpet 
— The fourth trumpet 25 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Epochs of the Trumpets — Continued. 

The fifth and sixth trumpets 39 

CHAPTER Y. 
The Period of Antichrist. 

The date of antichrist — Important evidence of chapter x — 
How antichrist identified: by prophecy; by his perse- 
cution of the saints ; by temporal autocracy ; Roman 
power — Tliree stages in the development of antichrist— 
What the argument claims to have proven under this head. 54 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Seventh Trumpet Period. 

Various separate and independent views of the events of the 
seventh trumpet period, embracing chapters xi to xv, in- 
clusive — Regular chronology resumed only at chapter xvi. 86 



Vi ESCHATOLOGY. 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Yial Epochs. page 

First vial— Second vial — Third vial. lit 

CHAPTER YIII. 
The Vial Epochs — Continued. 

The fourth vial 139 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Yial Epochs — Continued. 

The fifth vial 149 

CHAPTER X. 
The Yial Epochs— Continued. 

The sixth vial 15t 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Yial Epochs— Continued. 

The seventh vial 162 



CHAPTER XII. 
Doom of Babylon. 

Great rejoicing in heaven — Great triumph of the Gospel — 
The binding of Satan ., 167 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Personal Character of Antichrist 1*76 

CHAPTER XI Y. 
Poregleams of Millennium 188 

CHAPTER XY. 
The Millennium 201 

CHAPTER XYI. 
Battle of Gog and Magog 222 



Contents. vii 

CHAPTER XYII. page 

Christ's "Work of Restitution 227 

CHAPTER XYin. 
The Coming of Christ — The Resurrection 263 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The Coming of Christ — for Judgment, 

His regal power aod glory — His object, and appearance of 
his coming — The resurrection 269 

CHAPTER XX. 
The Coming of Christ — Continued. 

The judgment-day 2*77 

CHAPTER XXI. 
The Coming op Christ — Continued. 

Duration of the judgment 287 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Christ's Care of His Own Elect. 

Tlie intermediate state 295 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Christ's Care of His Own Elect — Continued 307 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Christ's Order of the New Creation. 

Christ's order of physical restitution consummated in the 
life to come — The earth conflagrated preparatory to the 
" new creation." 319 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Christ's Order op the New Creation — Continued. 

The marriage of the Lamb — New Jerusalem 324 



Viii ESCHATOLOGY. 

CHAPTER XXYI. page 

The LlTERALITY AND EdENIC TyPE OF ChRIST'S RESTITUTION. . , 33B 

CHAPTER XXYII. 
Moral and Spiritual Change. 

Christ requires and provides for a moral and spiritual change, 
by the Holy Spirit, according to the gospel proviso 343 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
The End of Gospel Dispensation. 

Christ " delivers up the kingdom to G-od, even the Father." 347 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Christ's Second Coming, an Incentive to Holy Living. 

Considered as supplying an incentive to holy living, and the 
law of Christian activity 354 



ESCHATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENTS. 

The word eschatology does not appear in holy Script- 
ure, but is the name, or title, given to that department 
of biblical theology which embraces the knowledge of 
the last events in the consummation of the mediatorial 
government, or, as it is also called, the gospel kingdom. 
The word is compounded of eo^arog, the last, the utter- 
most, the e)id, and ?^6yog, word, or doctrine, and when 
applied to times, or events, or epochs, means the doc- 
trine, or events, of the last times, as in John vi, 40, 44, 54; 
2 Tim. iii, 1, and about twelve times in other places 
equally direct. But in such places, or connections, the 
word " day " or " days " is not to be taken as solar days, 
but of preordained prophetic epochs, in which all events 
shall have reached their termini, and prophecies their 
fulfillment. The phrase "last day," or "last time," 
therefore, reaches down the entire period of consumma- 
tion of the gospel plan, the end or final purpose of the 
gospel scheme, when God shall have finished his dis- 
pensation of grace to man; when the mediatorial ad- 
ministration of moral government shall end, and the 
restitutive process shall accomplish its purpose. 

Eschatology, therefore, is a legitimate and most in- 
dispensable branch of theology, and must supply the 
true gauge and moral value of all doctrines relating to 
moral government and redemption. And as all its 



2 ESCHATOLOGY. 

particular subjects are purely matters of written reve- 
lation, leaving nothing to mere speculation, so all our 
knowledge of them is, and must be, purely exegetical. 
All speculation not in accord with sound exegesis is ir- 
reverent, misleading, and ruinous. The only question 
is, What does the oracle say ? 

Various jDarticular topics have been placed in the 
category of the " last things " which we cannot here 
examine, but will treat them in their places. We shall 
chiefly limit our inquiry to the following ; to wit. The 
downfall of Antichrist, the millennium, the second com- 
ing of Christ, the intermediate state, the resurrection, 
the marriage of the Lamb, the general judgment, the 
new creation, the restitution accomplished, the kingdom 
delivered up. These will not all be treated in their full- 
ness of evidence, but will receive attention so far as 
they correlate with central themes. In the midst of all, 
and as the " Alpha and Omega " to all, stands, in awful 
and beautiful grandeur and glory, the ever-blessed doc- 
trine of the second coming of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ, which is our chiefest theme. God, with 
whom all things are as present, knows the future as the 
past, and has been pleased to unveil the future, to a 
given extent, for the patience, faith, and hope of the 
Church, and for the admonition of all. He also knows 
the alienating influence of unbelief, and how to rally 
and sustain the faith of the Church. In these future 
and apparently far-oif prophecies he calls his people to 
consider the fundamental thought that the future, past, 
and present are alike before his all-comprehensive 
knowledge. Thus he speaks : "Thus saith the Lord 
the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts ; 
I am the first, and I am the last ; and besides me there is 
no God." And again : " Hearken unto me, O Jacob, 
and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am 



Introductory Statements. 3 

the last." And again: "Who hath wrought and done 
it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the 
Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he." Isa. 
xliv, 6; xlviii, 12 ; xli, 4. The "I am the first and the 
last" is Israel's warrant that the things foretold shall 
surely come in their time. 

Thus also Christ appropriates these same divine pre- 
rogatives and functions to himself: "I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, 
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Al- 
mighty." Rev. i, 8. "These things saith the first and 
the last, which was dead, and is alive." Rev. ii, 8. 
" I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, 
the first and the last." Rev. xxii, 13. The object of 
these asseverations of all- comprehensive knowledge, es- 
pecially the form of "I am the first and the last," is to 
inspire faith in the prophetic utterances of God and of 
Christ, in equal degree of assurance which they had of 
the historic past. The plan of divine revelation has 
ever been to preserve a faithful record of historic 
events, so far as the purposes of redemption required, 
and to unfold the future so far as could subserve the 
same end. The memory of God's past intervention to 
save and establish his people was necessary to support 
their faith. Their equal faith in his future promises 
and predictions with that in the historic past was neces- 
sary to sustain their hope. God is sovereign of all 
times, present, past, and future, and his purposes are in 
the hands of Christ for execution. It is in this light, 
and with this faith, we are to study and believe the un- 
fulfilled prophecies, resting in the promissory words of 
Christ: "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear 
the words of this prophecy, and keep those things 
which are written therein; for the time is at hand." 
Rev. i, 3. 



4 ESCHATOLOGY. 

It must be further premised that the fulfillment of 
prophecy is successive, and of the nature of a develop- 
ment. The advancement of gospel truth and the sup- 
pression of error, the triumph of righteousness in the 
earth and the overthrow of evil, are to be gradual, ac- 
cording to a wise arrangement, in agreement with moral 
laws and the methods of moral reformation. 

In biblical theology, especially in the department of 
unfulfilled prophecy, it is of indispensable importance 
to keep before the mind the exact order and limits of 
the dispensational epochs. In all the successive dis- 
pensations there is given a fulfillment of prophecies 
pertaining to the period then present, and an outlook 
of the future by prophecies to be fulfilled in their time. 
Thus, gradationally and successionally, the great plan 
of salvation has been unfolded and apprehended and 
accepted. History is the only and suflicient exponent 
of prophecy. When the time of fulfillment shall have 
come the circumstances and events will explain what 
before might have been obscure, though the body and 
substance of the oracle is ascertainable from the begin- 
ning. No book of the sacred canon is more rich and 
clear and various than this. None surpass it in de- 
scriptions of Christ in his mediatorial rule and king- 
ship, his sovereignty over the nations, his judgment on 
the enemies of the cross, the sufferings from persecu- 
tions, or public afflictions of the Church. Not infre- 
quently the symbols denote direct persecution of the 
Church. In all cases the ultimate effect upon the 
progress of the kingdom of Christ is the aim and 
result to be kept in view. Every " seal " or " trum- 
pet " or " vial " will have its effect chiefly within its 
own period, and Christ knows its force and fitness. 
All is weighed in the balances, and the omniscient 
Watchman knows at any hour " what of the night." 



Introductory Statements. 5 

Of the types and prophecies of the Mosaic economy 
Christ has openly declared that " till heaven and earth 
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the 
law, till all be fulfilled." Matt, v, 18. This is a suffi- 
cient warrant that each period will receive its literal 
completion within its allotted time. 

In the order of the epochs the present — the Christian 
epoch — is the last. No prophecy reaches beyond. 
" Till he come " marks, with its immediate concomi- 
tants, the terminus of all prophecy, all gospel institu- 
tion, all probation of man. Beyond that all is eternitj^, 
destiny, finality. " Then cometh the end." The 
sphere of eschatology, or the doctrine of the last 
things, therefore, dates and terminates the Christian 
epoch. Strictly speaking, it opens with the Pentecost 
of A. D. 33. Acts ii. Then, by the public outpouring, 
the miraculous fullness of the Holy Ghost began, as a 
dispensational epoch, " the last times." John says, 
" Little children, it is the last time : and as ye have 
heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there 
many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last 
time.^^ 1 John ii, 18. Paul says, " In these last days God 
hath spoken unto us by his Son." " In the last times 
some shall depart from the faith." " This know, also, 
that in the last days perilous times shall come." " It is 
not for you to know the times and the seasons which 
the Father hath put in his own power." Heb. i, 2 ; 
1 Tim. iv, 1 ; 2 Tim. iii, 1 ; Acts i, 7. These are gen- 
eral cautions. 

It is not to be wondered at that the germs or seeds 
of iniquity, which culminated in the great apostasy, 
should " already work " in the apostles' times. But 
being fully assured that the destinies of the Church are 
in the Saviour's hands, all heaven joined in the victor's 
chant, " Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the 



6 ESCHATOLOGY. 

Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and 
wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and bless- 
ing. And every creature . . . heard I, saying. Blessing, 
and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sit- 
teth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and 
ever." Kev. v, 12, 13. 

Thus, in brief, Christ is again revealed to the uni- 
verse as " the Head of the Church." the " King of kings 
and Lord of lords;" and now that the redemption of 
the Church is in our own Mediator's hands, they shall 
yet triumph, and shall reign with him on the earth. It 
was a timely vision and revelation. The apostles, ex- 
cept John, had finished their earthly mission. John is 
soon to follow. Who, then, of all the prophets or 
apostles shall represent the Church and deliver the 
holy oracles ? A new dispensation is opening, the 
Church is to walk by faith in the written word, and by 
the spiritual presence of Christ in the Church, and by 
the conscious experience of a present salvation by the 
Holy Spirit. 

Peter thus commends their faith and fidelity under 
their new trial; namely, that they "might be found 
unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing 
of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in 
whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye 
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Pet. 
i, 7, 8. To no books are we more indebted for our 
ideas of heaven and the future life than to this; to 
none are we more indebted for correct ideas of church 
life in its purity, authority, and honor. 

First of all, in this unfolding drama, Christ appears 
and commands John : " Write the things which thou 
hast seen, and the things which are, and the things 
which shall be hereafter." Rev. i, 19. Here are three 
distinct parts of John's commission : (1.) To " write the 



IXTRODUCTORY STATEMENTS. T 

thino-s which he had seen;'' that is, the vision embraced 
in Rev. i, 10-20. (2.) To write '• the things which are ;" 
that is, the historic present, as to the state of the 
churches, given in tlie second and third chapters of the 
Book of Revelation. (3.) To write " the things that 
sliall be hereafter." This last embraces the prophetic 
part of the entire book, and is thus repeated and indi- 
vidualized after the messages to the seven churches of 
Asia had been given. Thus John records : " After this 
I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and 
the first voice whicli I heard was as it were a trum- 
pet talking with me; which said. Come up hither, cutd 
I will shoto thee things tohich must he hereafter.'''' Rev. 
iv, 1. Here, then, dates the prophetic part of the 
Apocalypse. 

As our business is with the prophetic part we can 
only state that the messages to the seven churches 
present a state of contrariety of elements which, to the 
eye of the apostle, but far more to the mind of the 
"spirit," augurs doubt for the future results. This 
mixing of truth with error, of " the flesh and the 
spirit," could not long co-exist with a sound system of 
doctrine and discipline. Two only of the seven 
churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, were found to be 
without fault ; five were variously admonished and 
threatened. 

The great revivals during the first century unavoida- 
bly brought into the churches a vast amount of undis- 
ciplined disciples. Great efforts were made to unite 
Christianity to Mosaism on the one hand, or to the pa- 
gan pliilosophy on the other. The apostolical epis- 
tles abound in admonitions and instructions on these 
points. The "seven churches" were in their geo- 
graphical, and not less their central dialectical position, 
exposed to this assault, or perhaps decoy, of the enemy. 



8 ESCHATOLOGY. 

" Grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing 
the flock," says St. Paul. "Also of your own selves 
shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away 
disciples after them." Acts xx, 29, 30. 

The apostles foresaw the danger, and the seven 
churches were selected from the many by the Lord and 
Bishop of souls in order that, being forewarned, they 
might also be forearmed against the danger. "For 
even apostolical power and vigilance were not sufficient 
to release the Church of the beginning from the process 
of development in human freedom. Even the apostol- 
ical Church, in this immediately following stage, which 
we may term the Johannean, bore in it, concurrently 
with its strength of faith and faithfulness of love, the 
beginnings and types of all future apostasy and cor- 
ruption, down to the Laodicean lukewarmness of the 
last days. For this, the territory of the church of Asia 
Minor, so variously made up of peculiar characteristics, 
was a most apt and appropriate emblem ; and hence it 
was the historically existing, and not arbitrarily chosen, 
type of all the future. 

" It follows from all this, as indeed from the fact of 
these epistles being sent to these churches, that the 
words of praise and censure, of consolation and exhor- 
tation, which were appropriately addressed to each of 
them, will approve themselves apj^licable in all similar 
circumstances of the progressive Church. This is even 
the plain and obvious meaning which the Holy Ghost, 
in this relatively very comprehensible introduction of 
the dark books of prophecy, suggests to all individual 
souls. The churches which rise successively are in some 
sense alwa3^s simultaneously existent also, though not 
always stamped so distinctively as in these seven 
types." * 

*Stier's Words of the Lord Jesua^ vol. ix, pp. 109, 110. 



Introductory Statements. 9 

Chapters iv and v engross the solemnities of the in- 
troduction of Christ upon the scene, as the only Being 
vested with power to govern the nations and protect the 
Church. John says: "I saw in the right hand of him 
that sat on the throne a book written within and on the 
back side, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong 
angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to 
open the book, and to loose the seals thereof ? And no 
man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, 
w^as able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 
And I wept much, because no man was found worthy 
to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon." 
The book contained the history and destiny of the 
Church. John understood it, and hence his "much 
weeping." "And one of the elders [that is, princely 
ones], said unto me. Weep not: behold, the Lion of the 
tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to 
open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. . . . 
And he came and took the book out of the right hand 
of him that sat upon the throne." Rev. v, 1-5, 7. 

Upon this taking the book, the signal of investiture 
of sovereign power over the hostile nations, and of the 
certain final victory of the Churcli, all heaven joined in 
devout songs and thanksgiving. The same universal 
power and dominion were assumed by the Saviour just 
before his ascension. " All power is given unto me in 
heaven and in earth." Matt, xxviii, 18. And pre- 
viously: "The Father judgeth no man, but hath com- 
mitted all judgment unto the Son," "and hath given 
him authority to execute judgment also, because he is 
the Son of man." John v, 22, 27. 

The assurance now being given of the presence and 

ability of the Lord Jesus Christ to lead the Church and 

bring her to a triumphant end of all her conflicts, the 

celestial choristers, and the whole body of the heavenly 

2 



10 ESCHATOLOGY. 

world, unite to celebrate the joyful occasion, saying: 
'' Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the 
seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and bast redeemed us 
to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, 
and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God 
kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earthy 

Mark the pure millennial trait of this millennial and 
celestial chant. It describes the results attained and 
recorded in the "book;" results which are to be real- 
ized "on the earth," and the Church shall be in the 
highest honor, even as "kings and priests," "redeemed 
out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and na- 
tion." Vers. 9, 10. It must be remembered that when- 
ever the saints are represented as giving a chant in 
heaven they celebrate by giving in song the chief end 
and scope of their vision, and the specific object at- 
tained or to be attained. Kothing is done at random, 
or in general, or promiscuously. 



The Epocus of the Seals. 11 



CHAPTER II. 

THE EPOCHS OP THE SEALS. 

The Pirst Seal— Secoud Seal— Third Seal— Pourth Seal— Fifth Seal- 
Sixth Seal. 

The date of the new prophetic "book," or roll (chap. 
V, 1), is at the close of the first century. The method 
of revelation is gradational and highly dramatic. The 
whole time covered by the prophecy is divided into 
epochs and subepochs, named and designated by 
"seals," "trumpets," and "vials." These are to follow 
each other in strict chronological order. The language 
is greatly symbolic, and the symbols are to be interpret- 
ed by the known laws of scriptural usage. The sym- 
bols are almost wholly from the Old Testament. A fun- 
damental law of interpretation is, that events portrayed 
must be viewed in their light and influence as affecting 
for good or evil the true Church. This is the touch- 
stone which determines the prophetic importance of all 
events whatsoever. Sometimes an epoch may be distin- 
guished by the prevalence of war, sometimes of famine, 
or pestilence, or of great political changes. These have 
a secondary relation to the common cause. 

The first six seals of this group cover about two 
hundred and thirty-four years, extending from about 
A. D. 340. It includes the age of Constantine the 
Great, who died A. D, 337. The great moral events 
of this period are the extension of the Gospel over the 
known civilized world ; it embraces also eight of the 
ten notable Gentile persecutions, also the completion of 
the downfall of the Jewish power of persecution ; the 



12 ESCHATOLOGY. 

conversion to Christianity of the Roman emperor, Con- 
stantine the Great ; the irrecoverable fall of the pagan 
power of persecution throughout the Roman Empire, 
and the establishment by law of the Christian Church 
in her civil rights, freedom, and honor. These are 
events of great significance. But let us view the sub- 
ject more in detail. 

I. The First Seal John thus describes : " And I saw 
when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as 
it were the noise of thunder, one of the four living 
creatures saying, Come and see. And I saw, and be- 
hold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; 
and a crown was given unto him : and he went forth 
conquering, and to conquer." Rev. vi, 1, 2. 

It is scarcely needful to say that the general import 
of this first seal is that of the rapid spread of the Gos- 
pel. The strength and agility of the horse have made 
it proverbially terrible in war in all ages, and hence it 
becomes a symbol of war. But a " white " horse is an 
emblem of purity, joy, and victory; that is, it is spe- 
cific of a holy or evangelical victory. The " bow " is 
also a symbol of war, and the "crown" denotes kingly 
sovereignty ; the leader is a king. The phrase " con- 
quering, and to conquer," means rapid and successive 
victories. It was meet to open the scenes with an en- 
couragement to the Church. The idea of prolonged 
military life, though triumphant, is yet a life of hard- 
ship, unrest, and self-denial. It is sufiicient to say that, 
upon the death of John, the Revelator, the Church was 
left without a visible headship and leader. The apos- 
tles having finished their work, the Church was left 
with a written revelation, the Holy Spirit, and well- 
attested evidence of Christian experience to guide and 
establish its members. They had not, as afterward, 
the wisdom of centuries to confirm them in well-defined 



The Epochs of the Seals. 13 

scriptural doctrine, though they did enjoy the all-sufii- 
cient promise, " Lo, I am with you alvvay, even unto the 
end of the age." Matt, xxviii, 20. And in this walking 
by faith, and resting upon the promise of a divine spir- 
itual agency, they moved out before all the world, and 
at the peril of persecution, as Christ's witnesses, they 
bore the ensign of the cross. The persecutions sifted 
the Church, but did not check its growth. 

The symbols of the first seal do not cover any defin- 
able length of time, but stand forth as a public attesta- 
tion of readiness for action on the part of the Church, 
and of an uncompromising faith and purpose to stand 
by the cross. The latter part of the second century the 
Christian Church had been planted, in various degrees 
of strength, in all Europe, in Northern Africa, and in 
Asia as far as Persia ; perhaps, by the St. Thomas 
Christians, in India. 

II. The Second Seal : " And when he had opened 
the second seal, I heard the second living creature say. 
Come and see. And there went out another horse that 
was red: and power was given to him who sat there- 
on to take peace from the earth, and that they should 
kill one another: and there was given unto him a great 
sword." 

As the " white horse " in the first seal denoted purity, 
joy, and righteousness in the methods and aims and 
nature of the conquests, so now the " red horse " indi- 
cates bloody war, and " the great sword " given to him 
that sat on the horse was his commission to " take 
peace from the earth." The period denoted by the 
second seal is brief. John, the Rcvelator, was released 
from his Patmos prison after the death of Domitian, 
A. D. 96, and about ten years-later, under the emperor 
Trajan's reign, the flames broke out afresh. 

Ajnong the notable victims of this bloody persecution 



14 ESCHATOLOGT. 

was the great and good Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch. 
Trajan was on his way to the Parthian War, and stopped 
at Antioch in Syria, where he had an interview with 
Ignatius. In the course of the interview Ignatius had 
s]>oken of " Christ in himy " Dost thou then carry in 
thy bosom him that was crucified ?" sternly demanded 
the emperor. Ignatius replied, "I do ; for it is writ- 
ten 'I will dwell in them and Avalk in them.'" " Then," 
replied Trajan, *' since Ignatius says that he carries 
within himself him that was crucified, we command 
that he be carried bound by soldiers to great Rome, 
there to be thrown to the wild beasts for the entertain- 
ment of the people." 

The severity of the persecution was checked some- 
what by the consideration of the great numbers of the 
Christians. The proconsul of Bithynia, the younger 
Pliny, in a letter to Trajan, says : " Many of all ages 
and every rank, of both sexes, are accused and will be 
accused. Nor has the contagion of this superstition 
seized cities only, but the lesser towns also, and the 
open country." 

The persecution continued under Adrian, his succes- 
sor, A. D. 11 7, and is generally called the fourth Gen- 
tile persecution. Antoninus Pius came to the throne 
in A. D. 139 or 140, and terminated the persecution of 
the Christians. In his message to the Common Coun- 
cil of Asia he closes his mandate thus: "If any person 
will still persist in accusing the Christians merely as 
such, let the accused be acquitted, though he appear to 
be a Christian, and let the accuser be punished." This 
closed, for the present, the bloody page of martyrdom. 
But the Church had still flourished and extended her 
borders. Devout men sold their possessions and gave 
to the poor, and went into parts hitherto unvisited by 
evangelists and raised up new churches. The pros- 



The Epochs of the Seals. 15 

perity of the Church resulted from two causes — the de- 
vout consecration of all for the advancement of the 
kingdom of Christ, and the establishment of strict 
church discipline, protective of the victories already 
gained. The compact organism of church law and dis- 
cipline made a sharp distinction between the Christian 
and heathen communities, and gave a bold front to her 
persecutors. 

In A. D. 116 the Jews, who had been for years secretly 
preparing for a revolt from Gentile dominion, taking the 
opportunity of Trajan's absence to direct the war with 
the Parthians, and the withdrawal of the army from the 
West for that purpose, now burst forth suddenly in Egypt 
and quickly spread to Cyrene, Thebais, Cyprus, Pales- 
tine, Mesopotamia, and all parts whither the Jews had 
settled. An impostor, Barcochab, appeared among 
them with the profession of their Messiah, and vast 
multitude* rallied under his banner. For about nine- 
teen years the countries were agitated and in peril. 
The loss of life was computed at five hundred and 
eighty thousand, besides those who died of famine, dis- 
ease, fire, and other incidents of war. 

At the close of the second century of the Christian 
era another civil war broke out in settlement of the 
title to the vacant throne. The disputants wereSeverus, 
on the one hand, against Julianus, Niger, and Albanus. 
It is not our plan to enter upon the details of these 
events ; we can only mention them, and the reader can 
refer to them at leisure. But one thing must be kept be- 
fore the mind, namely, that all these wars were cruel and 
bloody, naturally antagonizing the Gospel of peace, and 
keeping the public mind agitated with a sense of gen- 
eral insecurity. As the Saviour says on another occa- 
sion, "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for look- 
ing after those things which are coming on the earth." 



16 ESCHATOLOGY. 

Luke xxi, 26. It is noticeable that the symbols of the 
second seal literally apply to the scenes we have given : 
"And there went out another horse that was red: and 
power was given him that sat on him to take peace from 
the earth, and that they should kill [dAATjAwv] one 
cmother^ This is civil war. 

III. Third Seal : " And when he had opened the 
third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come 
and see. And I beheld a black horse ; and he that sat 
on him had a pair of balances in his hands. And I 
heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures 
say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three meas- 
ures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil 
and the wine." Chap, vi, 5, 6. 

The " black horse'''' is the symbol of great tnourning ; 
and the " balances " is not here the emblem of equity 
and equality^ but of scarcity and /amine. It was con- 
sidered a great public calamity to be obliged to eat 
bread by weight. Thus Lev. xxvi, 26, " And when I 
have broken the staff of your bread, . . . they shall de- 
liver you your bread by weighty and ye shall eat and not 
be satisfied." And Ezek. iv, 16, 17, " Son of man, lo, I 
will break the staff of bread, and they shall eat bread 
by weight and with care." And that blackness is an 
emblem of famine is clear ; thus, " Our skin was black, 
like an oven, because of the terrible famine." Lam. 
V, 10. But the text itself evidences that the famine is 
the peculiar type of the sufferings denoted : " A meas- 
ure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of bar- 
ley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and 
the wine." The day-laborer would receive the " penny " 
(denarius),' equal to fifteen cents with us, and only 
the wages for one day. Such is the famine that lie 
can procure only one pint of wheat flour for his day's 
wages. If he is paid in barley he obtains three pints. 



The Epochs of the Seals. 17 

This is wholly insufficient for subsisting an average 
family. 

Toward the close of the second century a distressing 
famine raged in Rome, which brought on an insurrec- 
tion for bread. Gibbon says of it, " Pestilence and 
famine contributed to fill up the measure of the calam- 
ities of Rome." "Two thousand died every day at 
Rome, during a considerable length of time." 

I\^. Fourth Seal: "And when he opened the fourth 
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature 
say. Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a 
pale horse : and his name that sat npon him was 
Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was 
given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, 
to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with 
death, and with the wild beasts of the earth." Rev. 
vi, 7,8. 

This fourfold measure of divine judgments — the 
sword^ famine, death (pestilence), and loild beasts — make 
the full complement of wrathful visitation. And thus 
it is construed by the prophet : " For thus saith the 
Lord ; How much more Avlien I send you four sore judg- 
ments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and 
the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it 
man and beast." Ezek. xiv, 21. 

The word translated '• hell," verse 8, is adr^g, hades, 
which should be rendered grave, or region of the dead. 
The "pale horse "and its rider, "Death," are emblems, 
not only of death, but of wide-spread desolation, fol- 
lowed up closely with the open grave, or region of the 
dead. The idea is that deaths are so frequent that 
there is no burial. Power is given to " Death " to 
" kill the fourth part of the earth," with " the sword, 
with hunger [famine], and with death [pestilence], and 
with the wild beasts of the earth." The population of 



1 8 ESCHATOLOGY. 

cities and villages would be so wasted that the wild 
beasts of the mountains would come down to devour 
the remnant of the people. This always followed great 
destruction of the inhabitants. 

We may date the epoch of the fourth seal at about 
A. D. 211, after the death of Severus. Within a brief 
period four of the ten Gentile persecutions occurred. 
The political atmosphere was dark and tlireatening. The 
Roman Empire was fast waning and tottering to its 
fall. Most of the Roman emperors came to violent 
deaths. Civil wars were frequent. Disquiet prevailed. 
Besides thirty aspirants to the throne, there were six- 
teen acknowledged emperors within sixty years, from 
A. D. 211 to A. D. 270. 

"This gloomy period of history has been decorated 
with inundations, earthquakes, unrommon meteors, pre- 
ternatural darkness, and a crowd of prodigies, fictitious 
or exaggerated. But a long and general famine was a 
calamity of a more serious kind. It was the inevitable 
consequence of rnpine and oppression which extirpated 
the produce of the present and the hope of future har- 
vests. Famine is almost always followed by epidemical 
diseases, the effect of scanty and unwholesome food. 
Other causes must, however, have contributed to the 
furious plague which, from the year A. D. 250 to the 
year A, D. 265, raged without interruption in every 
province, every city, and almost every family of the 
Roman Empire. During some time five thousand per- 
sons daily died in Rome, and many towns that had 
escaped the hands of the barbarians were entirely de- 
populated." By authentic facts it was ascertained that 
" above half the people of Alexandria (Egypt) had per- 
ished." " And could we venture to extend the analogy 
to the other provinces, we might suspect that war, 
pestilence, and famine had consumed, in a few years. 



The Epochs of the Seals. 19 

the moiety of the human species." * The historic facts 
require no further explanation of the symbolic imagery 
of this epoch. 

V. Fifth Seal: "And when he had opened the fifth 
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were 
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which 
they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, 
How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge 
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 
And white robes were given to every one of them; and 
it was said unto tliem, that they should rest yet for a 
little season, until their fellow-servants also and their 
brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be 
fulfilled." Rev. vi, 9-11. 

This "seal," as the language imports, unfolds the 
bloody page of persecution. The martyrs have fled to 
the altar (verse 5), as was the custom, as a last resort, for 
refuge and protection.f It was their final appeal for 
justice and for mercy. The "white robes" (verse 11) are 
emblems of purity and victory, and are here given as a 
pledge of final triumph. 

We must date this fifth seal epoch at about A. D. 
284. This is the date of the accession to the throne of 
the emperor Diocletian, under whose reign the Chris- 
tians suffered the severest persecution they had ever 
been called to endure. It was in the year 302 that his 
son-in-law, Galerius, instigated by the pagan priests, 
finally prevailed upon Diocletian to issue an edict 
against the Christians. This first edict aimed to de- 
stroy their places of worship, their books, their eligi- 
bility to civil office, and their civil rights generally. It 
was soon followed by a second edict, by which nil 
bishops, pastors, teachers, throughout the empire, were 

* GilDbon's Roman Empire, vol. i, chap. x. 

f See the custom referred to in i Kings i, 50, and ii, 28. 



20 ESCHATOLOGY. 

to be apprehended and imprisoned — tliiiikiiig to destroy 
the Christians by destroying their leaders. A third 
edict ordered all sorts of torments to be used to force 
them to worship heathen gods and renounce Christ. 
Vast numbers hereby became victims to the most intol- 
erant sufferings. The scourge spread throughout the 
Roman Empire. In A. D. 304 a fourth edict was pub- 
lished, commissioning magistrates to force all Christians, 
without distinction of age or sex, to sacrifice to the gods 
of Rome. 

These edicts were strictly and zealously executed. 
*'A learned French Avriter, M. Godean, computes that 
in this tenth persecution, as it is called, there were 
not less than seventeen thousand Christians piU to death 
hi the space of one month, and that during the continu- 
ance of it, in the province of Egypt alone, no less than 
one hundred and fifty thousand persons died by the 
violence of their persecutors, and five times that num- 
ber through the fatigues of banishment, or in the public 
mines to which they were condemned." * 

The persecution under the emperor Decius had been 
furious and without mercy, and extended, with some 
interruptions, from A. D, 249 to the time of Diocletian. 
The history of these times is written in blood. Hu- 
manity sickens at the atrocities committed under the 
authority of law. The persecution under the reign of 
Diocletian continued ten years, till A. D. 313. 

VI. Sixth Seal: "And I beheld wdi en he had opened 
the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and 
the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon 
became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the 
earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when 
she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven de- 
parted as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every 
* Se3 Jones's Church History, p. 161. 



The Epochs of the Seals. 21 

moiintain and island were moved out of their places. 
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the 
rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, 
and every bondman, and every free man, hid them- 
selves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 
and said to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide 
us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and 
from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his 
wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" 
Rev. vi, 12-17. 

This is not a final general judgment scene, as some 
have supposed. The symbols used are not suitable to 
such an event. Besides, the " seventh seal " epoch, with 
its "seven trumpets," and the "seven vials" are yet to 
come. The judgment-day scene is given in Kev. 
XX, 11-15, and Matt, xxv, 31-46, and elsewhere. The 
symbolism is intense, but does not outstep the awful 
grandeur of the occasion.* In reading carefully the 
record of the sixth seal the mind is seriously impressed 
as with some great catastrophe into w^iich the people 

* The following suggestions may suffice for a clew to the interpre- 
tation of the sixth seal. "Earthquake " — the word literally signifies 
a shaking, and symbolically it denotes a violent agitation of govern- 
ment, changing tlie whole phase of society. "Not," says Mede, "a 
destruction, but an extraordinary alteration of the state of things." 
Isa. XXV, 19-21; Hag. ii, 6, 7, 21, 22. "Sackcloth" is an emblem of 
mourning. 2 Sam. iii, 31; Psa. xxx, 11. "Blood" represents deaili, 
especially slaughter, or punishment. Gen. iv. 10; Isa, xxxiv, 3. 
"Stars" denote princes, nobles, persons high in office. Dan. viii, 10; 
Num. xxiv, 17. "Heaven," tlie ruling power, or government, whether 
civil or ecclesiastical. Thus Isa. xiv, 13, 14: "I will ascend into 
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." " Heaven 
and earth " denote the political universe. Isa. li, 15, 16. In 2 Pet. 
iii, 13, " to look for a new heaven and a new earth " is to look for a 
new order or state of things in the moral and pliysical condition of 
our race. " Mountain " denotes stronghold, power of jyrotection. 
I.-a. iii, 23 ; also government. Isa. ii, 2. 



22 ESCHATOLOGY. 

and governments of the world are j^lunged, and from 
which there is no escape or mitigation. And such is 
the true impression. Kings and princes and govern- 
ments and peoples of the earth are alike involved. To 
one division of the earth it is hailed as a world-wide 
blessing; to the other it is condoled and bewailed as the 
hopeless wreck of all they had sought or desired, aug- 
mented with the terrors of impending retribution. 

In the beginning of the fourth century the Chris- 
tians had become a power in the Roman Empire. It 
was considered that half the population were either 
Christians or believers in one God. Persecutions did 
not check their increase, though their growth was not 
uniform. Tlie persecution under Diocletian, instigated 
by Galerias, first broke out in A. D. 302, which, as we 
have said, authorized the pulling down of all buildings 
of Christian worship, the burning all their books 
and writings, and depriving them of all their civil 
rights and preferments, but did not proceed to take life. 
But the following year the edict of Diocletian com- 
manded all sorts of cruelties and forms of death. Soon 
after another edict followed, ordering all the bishops, 
pastors, and public teachers throughout the empire to 
be apprehended and imprisoned. Other edicts followed, 
ordering the worship of the gods of Rome, and com- 
manding the severest cruellies by torture on all Chris- 
tians. This state of things continued ten years, or till 
A. D. 313. 

But God was working in the way of his own wisdom, 
and wonderfully, for the deliverance of his people, and 
this from an unexpected quarter. The provinces of 
Britain, Gaul, and Spain were ruled by Constantius 
Chlorus, a mild prince, and favorable to the Christians, 
and in his dominion there had been no persecution. 
Constantius died A. D. 308, and bequeathed his domin- 



The Epochs of the Seals. 23 

ion to liis son Constantine, afterward known as Con- 
stantine the Great. An edict in favor of the Chris- 
tians had been published in A. D. 312 by Constantino 
and Licinius, to which afterward Maximin also con- 
sented, favoring the Christians beyond any former pre- 
cedent; and even Galerius, on his death-bed, issued a 
conciliatory letter to his people asking the prayers of 
Christians. 

A little later, by a chain of wonderful providences, 
Constantine came to the undisputed and undivided 
throne of the Roman Empire, and immediately began 
his world-renowned career in establishing the Christian 
religion. At first paganism was tolerated, but it was 
afterward proscribed. Constantine ordered the heathen 
temples to be destroyed throughout the Roman Empire, 
A. D. 331, and paganism, as an organized religious 
body, was overtlirown about A. D. 390, in the reign of 
Theodosius the Younger. Thus from the date of Con- 
stantine's accession to the sole sovereignty of the em- 
pire Christianity became the recognized religion of 
Rome, and j^aganism was at first only tolerated, not 
approved, but soon it lost all recognition or preferment. 
Thus ended forever the pagan rule and power of pagan 
persecution in the Roman Empire. 

Thus terminated the sixth seal epoch. The wailing 
of all classes, as given in the symbolism and lively de- 
scriptions of the record, is the wailing of the i)agans, 
their priests, their emperors, their pliilosophers, their 
princes, their officers of government, and their common 
people. Multitudes believed in the heathen supersti- 
tions, and multitudes of all ranks derived their support 
from the heathen religion and government. The lam- 
entations and mourning are like those at the fall of 
mystic Babylon, the Harlot, given Rev. xviii, to Avhich 
the attention of the reader is invited. 



24 ESCIIATOLOGY. 

"From this account it appears that the pagan Roman 
emperors Avere deprived of their government and came 
to miserable ends ; that the pagan Roman Caesars fell in 
battle, or were put to death; that the religion of the idol- 
aters received a mortal wound, all the colleges of ponti- 
fices, augurs, vestals — in a word, all the pagan priests and 
religious officers throughout the empire — being under the 
power and dominion of a Christian prince ; that many 
of the pagan officers, civil and military, were displaced, 
and Christians put in their room ; that there was a 
thorough change in the government, and that paganism 
lessened by degrees, till it entirely disappeared ; that 
the greatest of the persecutors acknowledged and con- 
fessed the justness and cause of God's judgments, and 
lastly, that upon this change, all the idolaters^ upon 
account of their horrid cruelties against the Christians, 
could not but be in daily expectation of the severest 
punishments." * 

* Daubuz, quoted by Lowman on the place. 



The ErocHS of the Trumpets. 25 



CHAPTER III. 

THE EPOCHS OF THE TRUilPETS. 

The First Trumpet— The Second Trumpet— The Third Trumpet— The 
Fourth Truuiper. 

It will be noticed by the careful reader that after the 
sixth seal a pause or interval is made in the i-egular 
chronology of events. This interval is properly the 
prologue of the seventh seal. The symbolism of this 
prologue is briefly solved. Chap, vii, 1-3, the " four 
angels standing on the four corners of the earth, hold- 
ing the four winds of the earth," etc., denotes a period 
of peace and quiet among the nations. Wind, as a de- 
structive force in nature, was one of the dreaded evils, 
and the holding of the winds that they should not blow 
is a fit emblem of peace. This was realizedin the brief 
reign of Constantine. The sealing of '* the servants of 
God " was an act denoting property, also a pledge of 
divine protection. This gives to the servants of God, 
in the midst of public war and confusion, a calm assur- 
ance of divine recognition and final reward. The num- 
bers " twelve " and " one hundred and forty-four " 
(ver. 4) are representative, not absolute. The verses 
9-1 7 are a most beautiful and tender inside representa- 
tion of heaven, given to comfort the suffering Church 
in her mortal struggles against the convulsions of the 
earth. 

In chapter viii, 1-6 we have further encouragement 
for the faithful. In verse 1, " When he had opened 
the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the 
space of half an hour." This silence may be in allu- 



26 ESCHATOLOGY. 

sion to the silent prayer of the temple worshipers, while 
the priest offered incense in the holy place, as some 
suppose (Luke i, 10); or, rather, as we would suppose, 
when the seventh seal was opened such was the im- 
pression of the first glance at the scenery that heaven 
stood awe- struck, we might say terror-struck, in "ex- 
pressive silence." Certain it is that the events of the 
seventh seal epoch would justify such a construction. 
And, furthermore, if the " silence " occurred simulta- 
neously with the burning of the incense, then verse 3 
should connect with verse 1, whereas the ceremony of 
distributing the trumpets to the seven angels now sep- 
arates them. 

The profusion of incense which the angel offered 
(verses 3, 4) was a fit emblem, and strong assurance, of 
the efficacy of prayer in all the trying hours of affliction; 
while the angel (verses 3, 4) " wlio took the censer, and 
filled it with fire of the [great] altar, and cast it into 
the earth : and there were voices, and thunderings, and 
lightnings, and an earthquake," assured the Church 
that not only men and nations, but the forces of nature, 
are in the hand of God, who will direct and control 
them at his will, and for the purposes of his glori- 
ous kingdom. " Thunder and lightnings, when they 
proceed from the throne of God (Rev. iv, 5) are fit 
representations of God's glorious and awful maj- 
esty [and the resistless force of his vindictive judg- 
ments] ; but when fire comes down from heaven upon 
the earth it expresses some judgment of God on 
the world, as in the prophecy (Rev. xx, 9), 'and tire 
came down from God out of heaven, and devoured 
them.'"* 

Haviug then prepared the way for the further un- 
folding of the history of the Church, and having 
* Lowman. in coc. 



The Epochs of the Tkumpets. 27 

divided the Seventh Seal epoch into seven trumpet 
epochs, we give the first trumpet as follows : 

I. First Trumpet Epoch: "And the seven angels 
which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to 
sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed 
hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast 
upon the earth : and the third part of trees was burnt 
up, and all green grass was burnt up." Rev. viii, 6, 7. 

The interpretation of the trumpet epochs will be bet- 
ter understood by considering them in groups. Thus, 
the first four are one group, and the fifth and sixth are 
also a distinct group. The subepochs of the fii-st four 
trumpets extend over a period of about two hundred 
and thirty-two years, from the death of Constantine, 
337, till the birth of Mohammed, A. D. 569. This 
limitation of the period of the first lour trumpets is 
further corroborated by the clearly established dates of 
the fifth and sixth trumpets, as we shall see, in their 
place. 

Two events must be hept before the mind as results 
to be achieved in this period; namely, the downfall of 
paganism in the Roman Empire — a work begun but not 
completed — and the irretrievable fall and ruin of the 
Western or Latin branch of the Roman government. 
Pagan Rome had been hostile to the kingdom of Christ 
and cruel to the saints, and Christian Rome, though 
now nominally Christian, is early developing the genius 
and tendencies of her pagan ancestry in the character- 
istics of antichrist, " the man of sin." For three hun- 
dred years she had j^ersecuted that portion of the 
Church that sought a holier life, and she is now, in the 
chain of prophecy, within sixty-eight years of her ca- 
tastrophe, and her downward progress is marked in 
blood. 

Consider, further, that the AVestern or Roman lialf of 



28 ESCHATOLOGY. 

this empire was declining three hundred and fifty years 
before it fell, and the hist one hundred years of that 
period the world was in almost pei-petual war, attended 
and followed by famine, pestilence, and military op- 
pression. The barbarous tribes of Northern Asia and 
Europe, from China to the Atlantic coast, which had 
been the terror of all the Southern nations from time 
immemorial, now came surging westward and soutli- 
Avard to find food and cultivated lands. The Church 
and government, the people and their property, the 
works of art, the soil, the literature, and religion — all 
fell into the absolute power of these insatiate robbers. 
The European nations now existing have risen out of 
the ruins of the old Roman dominion. 

The first trumpet period brings us to A. D. 395. 
The events lie within about forty years, from Constan- 
tine the Great to the deatli of the emperor Theodosius. 
The symbolism of tliis epoch (chap, viii, 7) denotes 
wars, destruction of property, scarcity of food, to the 
great distress of the nations. 

Answering to this we have to record disgraceful and 
bloody civil wars in settling the empire among the sons 
of Constantine, which filled the nations with alarm and 
distress ; so much so that within twent3^-seven years 
from the death of Constantine his family became ex- 
tinct in the death of Julian the Apostate. Meanwhile 
the Northern barbarians moved southward, and the em- 
pire is invaded chiefly by the Franks, Almans, Saxons, 
Quades, Sarmatians, and Persians. The public distress 
was so great that the pagans charged it upon the Chris- 
tians in casting off the gods of Rome. 

II. The Second Tmimpet Epoch extends from Theo- 
dosius, A. D. 398, to the invasion of Africa by the Van- 
dals, A. D. 425, and is thus given : "And the second 
trumpet sounded, and as it were a great mountain 



The Epochs of the Trumpets. 29 

burning with lire was cast into the sea : and the third 
part of the sea, became blood ; and the third part of tlie 
creatures that were in the sea, and had life, died ; and the 
third part of the ships were destroyed." Kev. viii, 8, 9. 

The symbolism of this trum[)et denotes war; the in- 
tense agitations of the nations ; the destruction of a 
great proportion of commerce — one of the arteries of 
national life, and the chief prevention of famine. The 
state of public alarm and agitation is compared to " a 
great mountain burning with fire and cast into the 
sea." * 

It is impossible to give an adequate idea of the state 
at this time of the Roman Empire and of the Church in 
our brief limits, nor does it belong to our line of argu- 
ment. Suo-g^estive headino-s of thouojht, indicatinfr to 
the reader the line of further investigation, is all we 
can do. Remember, these indices of tlie fortunes of 
the Roman Empire are not given for the w^orth or 
worthlessness of their political bearings, but for their 
relation to the Church, the kingdom of Christ, and the 
light which they afford to prophecy as to the final des- 
tinity of our race. God has a hand in history; and na- 
tions and govei-nments, war and peace, the forces of 
society and of individuals, things present and things 
remote are all subject to his modifying will. 

With the events which occurred during the brief 
period of the second trumpet, and worthy of note here, 
we may record the terrible civil wars, conducted chiefly 
by Abrogates against Theodosius I., and subsequently 

* "Sea" denotes a body; if at rest, it signifies national quiet ; if 
agitated, it denotes war. "Ships " are the emblem of wealth by 
commerce. " Islands " signify depots of commerce. " Mountain " 
represents government, the ruling power. "A great mountain burn- 
ing with fire and cast into the sea " is government in great commo- 
tion, as when merged in destructive war with doubtful results. 



oO ESCHATOLOGY. 

that of Gildo in Africa. From the North the Goths 
invade and ravage Greece and overrun Northern Italy. 
The extreme Nortliern Germans — the Vandals, Suevi, 
and Burgnndians — descend upon the southern country 
and again overrun Northern Italy; then, uniting ^^ ith 
the Alani, they commanded an army numbering two 
hundred thousand lighting men, and their women, chil- 
dren, and slaves increased the numher to as much more. 
These came not merely for conquest, but for immigra- 
tion and settlement. Indeed, north of the Alps the 
Roman dominion had now ceased. In A. D. 408 Rome 
itself was besieged till famine in the city and pestilence 
became fearfully prevalent, men and women often eat- 
ing human flesh to escape the horrors of death by hun- 
ger. Thousands died, till there was no place to bury 
the dead. The pagan citizens complained that these 
calamities came in consequence of their having for- 
saken the gods of Rome. The barbarians were at 
length bought off at immense cost, and with an in- 
crease of their army invaded Gaul, Spain, and other 
provinces. 

In these commotions the churches were largely va- 
cated or ruined, government demoralized, commerce 
and enterprise greatly crippled — literally " a third part 
of the ships were destroyed," and "a third part of the 
sea [population] became blood. '^ The city of Rome was 
besieged three times in about two years, and at the last 
was taken and sacked A. D. 410. 

III. The Third Trumpet Epoch is from A. D. 425— the 
invasion of Africa by the Vandals — till the fall of the 
Western Roman Empire, A. D. 4'7G. It is given in the 
language following: "And the third angel sounded, and 
there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were 
a lamp, and it fell upon the third })art of the rivers, and 
upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the 



The Epochs of the Trumpets. 31 

star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the 
waters became wormwood ; and many men died in 
the waters, because they were made bitter.'' Rev. 
viii, 10, 11. 

The symbols seem readily explicable. A single 
"star" represents supreme authority; a "star falling to 
the earth " imports loss of supreme dominion; "rivers" 
denote derived authority, emissary and dependent 
power. "Fountains of water" properly signify sources 
of living sustenation. "Wormwood" explains itself 
as being hitter. The epoch throughout is calamitous. 

We can mention only some of its calamities. It is 
seen at once that the symbolism is bold, rare, and bur- 
dened with disaster. " Genseric, King of the Yandals, 
invades Northern Africa. Briton, abandoned by Rome, 
calls in the Saxons. A great battle is fought at Chalons, 
in which Atilla is said to have lost one hundred and 
seventy thousand men. lie was able to bring into the 
field an army of five, according to another account of 
seven hundred thousand." lie was called "tlie terror 
of the world." He invades Persia, attacks the Eastern 
Empire, ravaging as far as Constantinople. "In his 
Illyrian war the wliole breadth of Europe, as it extends 
above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the 
Adriatic, was at once invaded and occupied and deso- 
lated by the myriads of barbarians whom Atilla led 
into the field."* The provinces of Thrace and Mace- 
donia were ravaged without resistance and without 
mercy. Rome is taken and sacked. Within twenty 
years — from Maximus to Augustulus, the last emperor 
of the Western Empire — nine emperors had risen and 
fallen. 

"The shooting star," says Mede, "denoted the down- 
fall of the Western Csesars." Odoacer, King of the 
* Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii, pp. 394-:^.96. 



32 ESCHATOLOGY. 

Herull, deposed Augustulus and pat an end to the West- 
ern Roman Empire in A. D. 476. 

The Roman dominion had existed 1229 years — from 
B. C, 753, when Isaiah and Hosea prophesied, and about 
sixty-six years after Jonah had preached in Nineveh. 
It was the most solid poHtical and military structure the 
world had ever Avitnessed. Daniel trembled when he 
saw in vision and thus spake of it: "After this I 
saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, 
dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it 
had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, 
and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it 
was diverse from all the beasts that were before it." 
Dan. vii, 7. 

Another fact of world-wide importance should be no- 
ticed here; namely, the extinction of paganism through- 
out the Roman Empire. In A. D. 337, as we have seen, 
Constantino the Great established tlie Christian religion 
as the religion of the empire. This left paganism and 
pagans unsustained and unprotected by civil law. At 
first thei-e were no laws forbidding the pagan worship, 
but it was only tolerated. Altars and temples and 
priests and victims and idols were in all the land, though 
their worship was greatly depressed and dishonored, 
because not sustained by public expense nor by public 
sentiment, while nominal Christianity Avas grea'tly in- 
creased and honored. The progress of sentiment in 
favor of Christianity was so great that the pagans 
largely performed their rites in secret while they nom- 
inally passed for Christians. In some places where 
the pngans were in majority they openly opposed nnd 
persecuted tlie Christians. The struggle was long 
and bitter, the Clii"istians always in the ascendance. 
Justinian at last suppressed paganism by law in 623 
and 527. Thus paganism fell, after a struggle of 



The Epochs of the Tkumpets. 33 

one luHidred and ninety years from the decree of 
Constantine, * 

Another fact is of notable significance. When the 
barbarian hordes began to pour their myriads into the 
northern and southern provinces of the Roman Empire, 
they were struck with awe and admiration of the com- 
pact and imposing organization of the Church. It was 
an age of intense proselytism and unbounded aspira- 
tion of spiritual and ecclesiastical power. The bishops 
were attractive, bold leaders ; the bishop of Rome 
was now" the most influential man in Europe, and the 
Church presented a model of government and discipline 
not found in the military or civic spheres. Their ex- 
terior pomp and. order impressed the senses with awe, 
and their influence and discipline became a bond of 
union to society when all else was anarchy and ruin. 
The barbarians, through the active zeal of the Church, 
soon received the elements of the Christian faith, sub- 
mitted to baptism, and openly professed the Christian 
religion. However defective might have been their 
ideas of the new religion it was one step toward a 
liigher civilization and a truer doctrine, and when 
society began to rise from the ruins of the Western 
Empire, and form new nationalities, these primordial 
elements became a formative and influential factor. 

But just here we have cause to lament the unfaith- 
fulness of the Church. Instead of holding up before 
all nations the pure apostolic standards of doctrine and 
duty, instead of fidelity to the Gospel of Christ in its 
spiritual, unselfish simplicity, the forms of antichrist 
are superinduced upon the doctiine and spirit of Christ 
and his apostles, till within and out of the true faith 
an ecclesiastical system grew up which became the most 
terrible and corrupting power and persecutor of the 
* Vide Xeander's Hidory^ vol. ii, pp. 70-84. 



34 EsCIIATOLOGYo 

true Church which the workl ever saw. This will be 
noticed and described in the chapter on the " Twelve 
Hundred and Sixty Years of Antichrist." 

These remarks may seem a divergence from onr 
proper theme, but they are germane to the event of the 
fall of the AVestern Roman Empire, and the providence 
of God over the Church and the subsequent nations. 
We now resume the notice of the trumpet periods. 

IV. The Fourth Trumpet is thus announced : " And 
the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the 
sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and 
the third part of the stars ; so as the third part of them 
was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of 
it, and the night likewise. And I beheld, and heard 
an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying 
with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants 
of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trum- 
pet of the three angels, which are yet to sound ! " Rev. 
viii, 12, 13. 

The Janguage of this epoch speaks only of sorrow, 
gloom, perplexity, and distress. The third part of all 
sources of social life and happiness is extinguished. 
The " sun," representing the chief governing power, 
civil and religious ; the " moon," the secondary officers 
standing nearest the throne; the "stars," apparently to 
us the lesser agencies, yet indispensable ; these are in 
deepest mourning. " The sounding of the fourth trum- 
pet," says Dr. Hale, "introduced an eclipse of the third 
part of the sun, moon and stars. And the historian 
Cedrenus thus describes the aspect of the heavens in 
the reign of Justinian, A. D. 533, and 'The sun ap- 
peared as the moon, shorn of his beams, as if eclipsed, 
and cast a gloom on all things during this year. At this 
time the world had no respite from war and death.' 
And Gibbon remarks, that 'the majesty of the Roman 



The Epochs of the Trumpets. 35 

Empire was but faintly represented by tlie princes of 
Constantinople.' The divine judgments were still to be 
inflicted on the Koman Emj^ire, though Christian in 
name still pagan in religion and morals. The barba- 
rous conquerors, 'associating Belial with Christ' blend- 
ed their pagan idolatries and corruptions with the pure 
doctrines and precepts of Christianit3^ 

" These superstitions and corruptions led to a new 
order of things, both in the Western and Eastern Em- 
pire. They paved the way for two furious fanatical 
ecclesiastical powers, which sprang up out of the ashes 
of paganism, both in the Western and Eastern Church, 
about the same time, and from similar causes ; namely, 
the two Christian lieresies of popery and islamisni y 
which, however different from each other in some in- 
ferior features, yet agreed, 'like sisters,' in the pre- 
dominant traits of hatred and persecution of all other 
sects but their own," * 

We may place the epoch of the fourth trumpet f lom 
the fall of the Western Empire, A. D. 476, till A. D. 
604, the death of Gregory the Great, when the popes 
began to assume civil functions. It is an ominous in- 
dex of the unfortunate times of which we are now 
speaking that "in the space of twenty years since the 
death of Yalentinian [A. D. 457] nine emperors had 
successively disappeared." f Odoacer, the king of the 
Heruli, was " the first barbarian king who reigned 
in Italy." But his reign was short, for Theodoric, 
King of the Ostrogoths, conquered Italy, and founded 
a Gothic kingdom. Although Theodoric greatly miti- 
gated the deplorable condition of Italy, yet in the 
twenty years of Odoacer's reign " his kingdom exhib- 
ited the sad prospect of misery and desolation. . . . In 

* Hale's Analysis of Chron. Geog, Hist. Prophecy, vol. iii, p. 609-11. 
f Gibbon. 



36 ESCHATOLOGY. 

the division and decline of the empire, the tributary 
harvests of Egypt and Africa were withdrawn ; the 
numbers of the inhabitants continually diminished with 
the means of subsistence, and the country was ex- 
hausted by the irretrievable losses of war, famine, and 
pestilence. The plebeians of Rome, who were fed by tlie 
hand of their master, perished as soon as his liberality 
was suppressed; the decline of the arts reduced the in- 
dustrious mechanic to idleness and want, and the sen- 
ators, who might support with patience the ruin of their 
country, bewailed their private loss of wealth and lux- 
ury. One third of those ample estates to which the 
ruin of Italy is originally imputed is extorted for the 
use of the conquerors. Injuries were aggravated 
by insults ; the sense of actual suffering was embit- 
tered by the fear of more dreadful evils, and as new 
lands were allotted to new swarms of barbarians each sen- 
ator was apprehensive lest the arbitrary surveyors should 
approach his favorite villa or his most profitable farm."* 

Milman says of these same times, " Italy, either 
imperfectly cultivated or not at all by the indolent or 
ruined proprietors, not only could not furnish the im- 
posts on which the pay of the soldiery de|)ended, but not 
even a certain supply of the necessaries of life. The 
neighboring countries were now occupied by warlike 
nations; the supplies of corn from Africa were cut off; 
foreign commerce nearly destroyed; they could not look 
for supplies beyond the limits of Italy, throughout 
which the agriculture had been long in a state of pro- 
gressive but rapid depression." 

A little later came the wars for the recovery of the 

lost provinces of the Western Empire. Under the 

generals of the emperor Justinian — Belisarius and 

Narses — the former enters and resubjugates Northern 

♦Gibbon, iii, pp. 517, 518. 



The Epochs of the Trumpets. 37 

Africa, Sicih^, and a large portion of Italy ; Rome suf- 
fering, within a short space of time, two distressing 
sieges. To these must be added the war of Parthia, the 
Bulgarians, and tlie Lombards. Various others might 
be named, but these will sufficiently serve our purpose. 
It is easy to find in the history of these times material 
to cancel the symbolic descriptions of the fourth trum- 
pet. One has only to open the page of history, along 
the line which we have indicated, to find the reflective 
image of symbolic prophecy fully shadowed forth. 

The symbolism of the fourth trumpet points to great 
public perplexity and distress, and this became an in- 
evitable result of the policy of nations and tribes. 
After the rule of Odoacer in Italy the public miseries 
are thus described: "The twenty years of the Gothic 
war had consummated the distress and depopulation of 
Italy. As early as the fourth campaign [in the war for 
the resubjugation of the Western provinces], under the 
discipline of Belisarius himself, fifty thousand laborers 
died of hunger in the narrow region of Picensura, and 
a strict interpretation of the evidence of Procopius 
would swell the loss of Italy above the total sum of her 
present inhabitants, perhaps fifteen or sixteen millions. 
A still greater number was consumed by famine in the 
southern provinces, without the Ionian Gulf. Acorns 
were used instead of bread. Procopius had seen a de- 
serted orphan suckled by a goat. Seventeen passen- 
gers were lodged, murdered, and eaten by two women 
who were detected and slain by the eighteenth." * 

Tlie wars between Romans and barbarians, and be- 
tvreen one tribe and another of the latter, could be sus- 
tained only by heavy imposts, which impoverished the 
poor, often to the extent of starvation, and always to 
great scarcities and sufferings ; to which must be added 
* Gibbon. 



38 ESCHATOLOGY. 

often the merciless pillage of an unchecked soldiery. 
Besides this, men who filled the offices of agriculture 
and the arts were taken from their professions to supply 
the military, leaving their families without adequate 
supplies. But not the least Avas the cutting off the 
usual import of grain. I^orthern Africa, Egypt, and 
Sicily had been the granaries of Italy ; but war de- 
stroyed ships, blockaded ports, and ruined commerce. 
Famine induced pestilence, and though brief intervals of 
relief were had, nations were rocked in unsettled confu- 
sion, " as if the third part of the sun was smitten, and 
the third part of the moon, and the tliird part of the 
stnrs; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the 
day shone not for a third part of it, and the night like- 
wise." Added to this, three "woes" are announced, to 
intensify the last judgments, to w^hich no clew is given 
other than that they are to be distressing. Perhaps the 
great plague in the sixth century (A. D. 542-591), 
extending from Persia to France, may be cited to an- 
swer the lirst " woe." Gibbon says of it : " No facts 
have been preserved to sustain an account, or even a 
conjecture, of the numbers that perished in this extraor- 
dinary mortality. I only find that during tliree months 
five, and at length ten, thousand persons died each day 
at Constantinople ; that many cities of the East were 
left vacant, and that in several districts of Italy the 
harvest and the vintage witliered on the ground. The 
triple scourge of war, pestilence, and famine afflicted 
the subjects of Justinian, a.nd his reign is disgraced by 
a visible deer Jlse of the human species, which has never 
been repaired, in some of the fairest countries of the 
globe." * 

* Gibbon, after a restrictive criticism as to the number wlio pcr- 
isVicd in the plague, says : " One hundred millions is a number not 
wholly inadmissible." 



The Epochs of the Tkumpets. 39 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE EPOCHS OF THE TRUMPETS.— Coxtixued. 
The Fifth Trumpec Epoch— The Sixth Trumpet. 

V. The Fifth Trumpet is recorded as follows: "And 
the fifth aiigel sounded, and I saw a star fall from 
heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key 
of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless 
pit; and there arose out of the bottomless pit, as the 
smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were 
darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there 
came out of the smoke locusts of the earth: and unto 
them was given povrer, as the scorpions of the earth 
have power. And it was commanded them that they 
should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green 
thing, neither any tree; but only those men which liave 
not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it 
was given that they should not kill them, but that they 
should be tormented five months: and their torment 
was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a 
man. 

" And in those days shall men seek death, and shall 
not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee 
from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like 
unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads 
were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were 
as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of 
women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And 
they had breastplates as it were breastplates of iron; 
and the sound of their Avings was as the sound of char- 



40 ESCHATOLOGY. 

lots of many horses running to battle. And tliey had 
tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their 
tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of 
the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue 
is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name 
Apollyon." Rev. ix, 1-11. 

We must not attempt to explain all the items of this 
marvelous description. This would be more than either 
parabolic or symbolic laws of interpretation would re- 
quire. A few salient features, determinative of the 
true idea and " just circumference " of the vision must 
suffice. The imposing feature of the metaphor is the 
locust and his natural history, and hence this has been 
called the " locust trumpet." The locusts move in vast 
multitudes, leaving utter destruction in their track, and 
thus represent fierce and barbaric peoples. They are here 
represented as coming out of a cloud which darkened 
the air. We know they do literally move in clouds 
from one to two miles wide and three to four miles long, 
and so thick that the sun could not shine through them; 
darker than a dense thunder-cloud. The fact that the 
locust is selected and placed in the foreground of the 
scene further indicates a people of low grade, not well 
organized, odious, and despised. 

This people should also be ferocious. Of all insects 
tlie locust is the most ferocious and destructive. These 
Vv^ere "like horses prepared unto battle" (verse 7), and 
" the sound of his wings was as the sound of chariots 
of many, horses running to battle." Yerse 9. Their 
origin is horrible. The barbarians of Northern Europe 
and Asia had become known in history, but here is a 
race dwelling in an obscure part of the globe, known 
only as wild marauders in their inaccessible deserts, 
suddenly bursting their innumerable hordes upon the 



The Epochs of the Trumpets. 41 

world. John thus states it: "I saw a star fall from 
heaven to the earth: and to him was given the key of 
the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; 
and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of 
a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened 
by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out 
of the smoke locusts upon the earth." Yerses 1-3. 

These " locusts " had " a king over them, which is the 
angel of the bottomless pit, whose name is Apollyon," 
that is, "destroyer." Yersc 11. This is peculiar. The 
locusts have no king or leader. Prov. xxx, 27. The 
title of this kinc^ shows that he was different from all 
other kings. No such title is given to any merely polit- 
ical sovereign. He is both religious in profession and a 
destroyer. lie ruins men's souls. He is " the angel of 
the bottomless j^it." Verse 11. 

'^Saracen," says Dr. Hale, "is from the Arabic sarec, 
a thief, a rohber.^^'^^ But philologists are not agreed 
as to the origin of the name. The religious commission 
of these ferocious myriads gave permit to " hurt " only 
those who " had not the seal of God in their foreheads." 
"To them it was given that they should not kill them, 
but that they should be tormented live months." Yerse 5. 
The notation of time — " five months " — is to be taken 
symbolically, a day for a year; thus, five months of 
thirty daj^s is equal to one hjindred and fifty years. 

In turning to history to find the real facts denoted 
by the exuberant imagery of the fifth trumpet period, 
we find no such people bat the Saracens under Ma- 
homet, or, as more properly called, Mohammed. That 
this was the people intended and described history bears 
unmistakable evidence, and is, therefore, commonly con- 
ceded. The figure of the "locusts" points that way. 
Arabia is the home of the locust. They are found in 

* Hale's Analysis^ etc., vol. iii, p. 615. 
4 



42 ESCHATOLOGY. 

every clime of the East and Africa, but Arabia is pecul- 
iarly the place of their birth and abode. When God 
would bring locusts upon Egypt by Moses, he did not 
bring them from the vast deserts of Lybia west, but 
from the deserts of Arabia east. He caused an " east 
Avind to blow " for twenty-four hours, and when they 
had fulfilled their purpose a " west wind " carried them 
back again. Exod x, 10-19. The baleful testimony 
of the times is given in A-erse 6: "And in those days 
shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall 
desire to die, and death shall flee from them." 

The Saracens began their military career under Mo- 
hammed, A. D. 622, and after twelve years all Arabia 
was subdued to the poAver and religion of the false 
prophet. At this juncture of affairs Mohammed dies. 
To settle the question of his successor, and the line of 
succession, Avere new and all-engrossing subjects. It 
Avas a crisis. But a brief experience in counsel and in 
bloody feuds determined Abubeker as the caliph.* 
He died after tAVO years, and the foreign Avars \Axre 
promptly begun. The first foreign conquests Avere 
Syria, Damascus, Jerusalem, and afterward Persia, 
Egypt, Northern Africa, and Spain. "In the ten years 
of the administration of Omar [the second caliph, A. D. 
634, the o|)ening of the fifth trumpet] the Saracens re- 
duced to his obedience thirty-six thousand cities or 
castles, destroyed four thousand Christian churches, or 
temples of the unbelievers, and edified fourteen hun- 
dred mosques for the exercise of the religion of Mo- 
hamet. One hundred years after the flight of Mohamet 
from Mecca [A. J). 70S] the arms and reign of his suc- 
cessors extended from India to the Atlantic Ocean, over 
the A^arious distant provinces which may be comprised 

*The caliphs were supreme in regal and sacerdotal affairs. They 
were the authoritative interpreters of the Koran. 



The Epochs of the Trumpets. 43 

nndcr tlie names of Persia, Syria, Eg3'pt, Africa, and 
Spain."* 

Mohammed had but an indefinite idea of the extent 
of the empire he was to subjugate, but the Koran was 
a declaration of war against mankind. "The worhl, 
therefore, must prepare at once for a new barbaric in- 
vasion, and its great universal religious war." The 
western empire of Rome had fallen by northern barba- 
rians; the eastern seat of its dominion must now fa.ll by 
southern, and if 2:)ossible fiercer, tribes. It is not con- 
sistent to the plan and object of this work to give ex- 
tended views or details of matters of simple history. 
We can only state salient facts, as way-m^arks by which 
the reader may be guided. 

One event Ave may not omit. AYe have terminated 
the fifth trumpet epoch at A. D. 732. At this date the 
Saracens had taken Spain. They had now invaded Eu- 
rope, to do there as they had done to Arabia, Persia, 
Syria, and the fertile regions of Egypt and Northern 
Africa. Passing the Pyrenees, the Saracens now enter 
France, and display their countless myriads near the city 
of Tours. Here they meet and are overcome by the 
Christian army, commanded by Charles Martel. The 
battle was terrible, but decisive. It saved Europe from 
the tyranny of Asiatic Mohammedanism. 

The wars of Mohammed and his successors were pro- 
fessedly religious wars. They assumed the right, and 
tlie divine commission, to make war upon all nations 
who refuse to submit to the religion of the Koran. 
This religion was a compound of Judaism, Christianity, 
and paganism. Its fundamental profession is, "I be- 
lieve in one God, and Mohammed is the apostle of 
Gud." The commander of every army first offers 
liberty and protection to the enemy if they lenounce 
* Gibbon, v. p. 175. 



44 ESCIIATOLOGY. 

idolatry and adopt the Koran. If tliey have ah'eady a 
written creed, and believe in one God, and will pay 
tribute, they spare them ; otherwise, war without mercy, 
with its inevitable accompaniment of pillage and plun- 
der. The world has never seen the equal of Islam in 
fanatical cruelty, extent of conquest, strength of cohe- 
sion, and length of continuance,- excepting onl}^ the case 
of the antichrist beast, or harlot, to be noticed in its 
place. Herein the imagery of the fifth trumpet is most 
amply realized. 

yi. The Sixth Trumpet is thus given: "One woe is 
past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter." 
"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from 
the four horns of the golden altar Avhicli is before God, 
saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose 
the four angels which are bound in the great river Eu- 
j)hrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were 
prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, 
for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the 
army of the horsemen were twohundred thousand thou- 
sand: and I heard tlie number of them. And thus I saw 
the horses in the vision, and the men tiiat sat on them, 
having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brim- 
stone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of 
lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and 
brimstone. 

" By these three was the third part of men killed, by 
the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimestone, 
which issued out of their mouths. For their power is 
in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were 
like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they 
do hurt. 

"And the rest of the men which were not killed by 
these plagues yet repented not of the works of 
their hands, that they should not worship devils, and 



TTnz Epochs of the Trumpets. 45 

idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of 
wood ; -which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk : 
neither repented they of their murders, nor of their 
sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." 
Rev. ix, 12-21. 

If M'e take the notation of time in the sixth trumpet 
epoch (verse 15) according to prophetic or symbolic 
reckoning, we make it three hundred and ninety-one 
years, which, added to the terminus of the fifth trum- 
pet, would bring us down to A. D. 1123. This seems 
the most in harmony with all the facts in the case. The 
Turks had now fully asserted their dominicn and supe- 
riority over the Saracenic power, and Islamism had tri- 
umphed over Christianity. The moral influence of the 
latter is scarcely better than that of tlie former. The 
political power of the Eastern Roman Empire is crippled 
on all sides, and is scarcely felt out of Constantinople, 
a few cities in Asia Minor, and a few European prov- 
inces in the north-west. It was Turkish power that 
captured and sacked Constantinople in A. D. 1453, and 
it is the same power that now rules tlie present Turkish 
Empire. 

Like the preceding trumpet, this also is burdened with 
presages of war, of wrathful visitations, and direful and 
varied sufferings. As we have already stated, the 
"woes" wliicli were pronounced against the fiftli, 
sixth, and seventh trumpet periods, Avere premonitions of 
intensified judgments upon the nations, and to this effect 
the second '" woe " is repeated. Terse 13. It is sufficient 
to say that the first and second woes occurred during the 
Saracenic and Turkish rule, which the nations found to 
be more ferocious and inhuman than the invasions and 
dominion of the northern barbarians who overthrew tlie 
Western Roman Empire. During the fiftli and sixth 
trumpet periods the public calamities and private suffer- 



4u ESCHATOLOGY. 

ings are grapliically given in verse 6: "And in those 
days shall men seek death and shall not find it ; 
and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from 
them." 

The language of the angel of the sixth trumpet in 
verse 13 betrays a clew to the location and time of his 
commission. John says: "And the sixth angel sound- 
ed, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the 
golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth 
angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels 
which are bound in the great river Euj)hrates." The 
number " four " in the ''four angels that are bound" 
should be considered here, as elsewhere, as the number 
of fullness. Thus (chap, vii, 1) the ^' four corners of 
the earth" means the whole earth, and the "four winds 
of the earth " signify winds in every possible direction. 
The distress was in all places, among all classes of peo- 
ple, as if the frame-work of nature and of society were 
dissolved. The loosing of the four angels denotes that 
they had been restrained hitherto from executing judg- 
ment which they were now called to administer. Their 
being " bound in the great river Euphrates " is clearly 
an indication of the locality of the seat and center of 
the events of the epoch. Euphrates here is to be taken 
literally. The " great river Euphrates " is made, not a 
boundary line of nations, but the heart and center of 
an eastern dominion, and of political revolutions of in- 
definite eastern limitation. In a similar sense we still 
use the words " East," or " Orient," or " Oriental," so 
that if we would form a just idea of the sixth trumpet 
epoch we must look specially to the history of Asia^ 
from its western boundary to the sunrising, or as far 
east as was known in histor}^ It will be remembered, 
therefore, that the epochs of the " seven seals " and of 
the first four " trumpets," relate chiefly to the western 



Ttte Epochs op the TnuaiPETs. 47 

branch of the Roman Empire, embracing Europe and 
Nortliern Africa ; but the fifth and sixth trumpets rep- 
resent epochs and events not only Avithin the eastern 
branch of tlie old Roman Empire, namely, from the 
western limit of Asia to the meridian of Euphrates, 
but fi'om Euphrates to Hindostan and to the undefined 
limit of the East. 

A strong corroboration of this view is further found 
in verse 16 : "And the number of the army of the horse- 
men were two hundred thousand thousand, and I heard 
the number of them." It was characteristic of the an- 
cients to estimate the strength of an army by the num- 
ber of its cavalry, and this is specially true of the 
armies of the Turks. This savage race, which had 
emerged from the region beyond the Caspian Sea, and 
had fought with Saracens and other tribes, and even as 
an ally of the Roman army at Constantinople, had now, 
in the epoch of the sixth trumpet, become the ruling 
military power in Western Asia. ISTearl}^ a hundred and 
fifty years had now elapsed under the galling domina- 
tion of the Saracens, and though they abated somewhat 
the stern conditions of toleration, still no adequate lib- 
erty of opinion cheered the hope of the future. The 
fanatical zeal which had animated the first Saracenic 
conquests now yielded to the voluptuous desire of en- 
joying the lands and varied treasures which had 
been gained by conquest and pillage. To carry the 
doctrines of Islam over the world and enforce them 
upon the nations — the objects that infuriated their zeal 
at the beginning — they now saw would require armies 
of vast extent in every province, and unremitted mili- 
tary activity. The caliphs had mostly retired from the 
battle-field and rolled in wealth and luxury beyond a 
precedent. The Saracens declined from their first fa- 
natical zeal, and the Turks, by their own strength and 



48 ESCHATOLOGY. 

valor, and by alliance with inferior tribes, appeared 
foremost in the field. 

The number of horsemen giA^en in ver. 16 must be 
computed either literally or figuratively. If literally, 
it is equal to two hundred millions, a number which re- 
futes itself. We therefore take the meaning to be fig- 
urative ; that is, as expressive of a great and indefinite 
number, as in Psa. Ixviii, 17. The Hebrews counted 
by chiliads^ or thousands, and after this by myriads, or 
ten thousands. They could go no further by regu- 
lar numerical progression. So in Rev. v, 11 : "The 
number of them was myriads of myriads and chiliads 
of chiliads," or, as in the common version, " Ten thou- 
sand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." 
The number in the passage before us (Rev. ix, 16) is 
without computation or definite knowledge, but marvel- 
ously great. When John says (chap, vii, 4), " I heard 
the number of them which were sealed," the number 
was explained as definite. But here he says, " I heard 
the number of them," and leaves it indefinite as to ex- 
tent. But this does not at all invalidate the vision. 
As Bengel says, " When John adds that ' their number 
was heard by him,' he hints that the certain number 
specified, if it be put for an uncertain one, yet has not 
a wide uncertainty, and that the greatness of the num- 
ber, however incredible it may appear, is still to be 
credited." * 

We turn now to the history of the sixth trumpet to 
find there a full expression and illustration of the mili- 
tary prominence of the times, and of the consequent 
sufferings, according to the second " woe " of the proph- 
ecy. We repeat, that the date of the sixth trumpet is, 
as we view it, about A. D. 732, and tlie territory em- 
bracing the events answers chiefly to the Eastern Ro- 
* Comment in loc. 



The Epochs of the Trumpets. 49 

man Empire, witli the territory added from the river 
Tigris to the river Ganges. We can give only jottings 
of ccreat events to indicate the current of the times. 
The points here and now to be considered relate to the 
questions whether the sufferings during the period of 
the sixth trumpet, and in the regions mentioned, really 
occurred, and whether the leading power of evil within 
the limits of the territory named is due to the Turko- 
mans. It must be kept in mind that the northern Asi- 
atic hordes, north and east of the Euxine and Caspian 
Seas, were pressing by millions westward and south- 
ward and eastward for lands to plunder. They were 
freebooters by profession, and mostly fought on horse- 
back. By alliance with different tribes or with the 
different nations they could present a formidable force, 
especially of cavalry, in which they were marvelously 
skilled. 

In the war of Nicephorus the Roman emperor (A. D. 
781) and Harun-ul-Rashid (or Aaron the Just), the 
former entered upon the military roll one hundred and 
thirty-five thousand soldiers, and above three hundred 
thousand marched under the black flag of the barba- 
rians. Forty thousand of the Romans fell in one 
battle. 

As early as 558 the army of the Avars made their 
first appearance before the gates of Constantinople, to 
the surprise and alarm of the city and government. In 
an interview with the emperor Justinian he asked as 
to the meaning of this sudden mission. The chief of 
the barbarians replied : " You see before you, O mighty 
prince, the representatives of the strongest and most 
populous of nations, the invincible, the irresistible 
Avars. We are willing to devote ourselves to your 
service ; we are able to vanquish and destroy all the 
enemies who now disturb your repose. But we expect, 



50 ESCHATOLOGY. 

as tlie price of our alliance, as the reward of oar valor, 
precious gifts, annual subsidies, and fruitful posses- 
sions." We quote it as a true specimen of tlie total 
abnegation of the moral principle of justifiable war. 

The Carmathians — followers of Carniath — made their 
appearance A. D. 890. They professed a more spiritual 
interpretation of the Koran than given by the caliphs. 
Their leader commanded a hundred and seven thousand 
fanatics, thirsting for blood and pillage. Twenty thou- 
sand pilgrims, on their way to Mecca, were at one time 
robbed and exposed to perish in the desert ; and at an- 
other thirty thousand citizens and strangers were put 
to the sword at Mecca, and their holy city stripped of 
its sacred appendages and wealth. Their ferocious 
cruelty became the terror of the world; they infested 
Irak, Syria, Egypt, and the confines of Babylonia and 
Mesopotamia. At Bagdad he put to death the reigning 
caliph. Gibbon gives it as the second visible cause of 
the downfall of the empire of the caliphs. 

In a war of Theophilus, the Roman emperor, and 
Motassem the caliph, and commander of the Turkish 
hordes, there arose an issue wholly personal between 
them, but which involved the destruction of the beau- 
tiful city Amorium. The city was besieged fifty-five 
days with desperate valor on both sides. The city was 
taken. "About seventy thousand Moslems had per- 
ished, and their loss had been revenged by the slaughter 
of thirty thousand Christians and an equal number of 
captives. To a point of honor Motassem liad sacrificed 
a flourishing city, two hundred thousand lives, and the 
property of millions." * 

Mahmud, the Guznevide, a Turk, was a great prince 
and warrior. Twel\e expeditions into Hindostan had 
made him fanjous. His armies are counted by multi- 
* Gibbon. 



The Epochs of the Trujipets. 51 

plied myriads. Wlieii the allied force of the various 
tribes which were in his service was estimated, two 
hundred thousand liorse were counted in their cavalry. 
When the Turks invaded the proviiices of the Eastern 
Roman Empire, A. D. 1050, "the myriads of Turkish 
horse overspread a frontier of six hundred miles," 
This one expedition cost the blood of one hundred and 
thirty thousand Christians. The army of Alp Arslan, 
the Turkish commander and sultan, numbered two 
hundred thousand, and his servants, it is said, twelve 
hundred princes or sons of princes, and the trophies of 
his victory were the plunder of the cities from Antioch 
to the Black Sea."^ 

Mahmud (A. D. 980) had engaged the allied force of 
many tribes to strengthen his army, and had been 
warned of the danger incurred thereby. He therefore 
inquired of their chieftain what supply he could fur- 
nish for military service? He I'eplied, "If you send 
one of these arrows into my camp, fifty thousand of 
your servants will mount on horseback." " And if that 
number," continued Mahmud, " should not be suffi- 
cient ? " " Send this second arrow," said the chieftain, 
" to the horde of Balik, and you will find fifty thousand 
more." "But," said Mahmud, "If I should stand in 
need of the whole force of your kindred tribes ? " 
"Dispatch my bow," was the last reply of Ismael, " and 
as it is circulated the summons will be obeyed by two 
hundred thousand horse." When Mahmud reviewed 
his troops, just before his death, he found his military 
force to amount to one hundred thousand foot, fift3^-five 
thousand horse, and thirteen hundred elephants." f 

"We have now reached within twenty-three years of 
the terminus of the sixth trumpet epoch, according to 
dates and estimates given in the prophecy. Within 
♦Gibbon. f See Gibbon, vol. v, clmp. 57. 



52 ESCHATOLOGY. 

that brief space — in A. D. 1101 — occurred the first 
Crusade, of which there were seven in all. The reader 
must know that Jerusalem and its environs were con- 
sidered as holy places, and not less by the Mohammed- 
ans than by Christians. To visit these holy places, and 
worship there, was accounted as of high spiritual merit, 
securing an assured title to final salvation. Multitudes, 
both of Christians and Islanis, and from all parts of 
the world, flocked there. As the Christians could not 
obtain equal rights with the followers of the false 
prophet, persecution, often to martyrdom, resulted, 
until cries of distress echoed in all lands, and an ap- 
peal to arms became inevitable. The preparation for 
such an expedition must be vast, almost limitless. The 
result proved that it cost the countries and cities 
through which the invading army must pass, rivers of 
blood and unmeasured privations and sufferings. Hun- 
ger and thirst knew no law of restraint or compensation. 
The invading army was raised in Europe, and their 
march to the promised land was every-where marked 
with blood and devastation. "Of the first crusaders, 
three hundred thousand had already perished before a 
single city was rescued from the infidels, before their 
graver and more noble brethren had completed the prep- 
arations of their enterprise." ^ 

The causes of war were various. They were, for the 
propagation of the Mohammedan faith ; the succes- 
sion of the caliphate, or the determination of the true 
line of succession of the empire of the caliphs (and 
of these there are five dynasties, and the sixth trumpet 
epoch enters late in the third) ; the recovery of cities 
and provinces which had been dismembered from the 
Roman Empire by the invasions of the Saracens and 
Turks; the wars for the resubiugation of these prov- 
* Gibbon. 



The Epochs of the Trumpets. 53 

inces and cities back to the Turkish dominion ; expedi- 
tions ostensibly for the extension of the Mohammedan 
faith, but really for plunder. Of the local quarrels and 
feuds for which there was no redress we do not speak. 
Nor do Ave speak of the countries outside of the limits 
of the Eastern Roman Empire. The prophet goes no 
farther. 

The support of immense armies, whether in peace or 
war, but especially the latter, involved the most op- 
pressive imposts. Not only were the soldiers paid a 
given price for their service, but they were encouraged 
and inflamed with the expectation of indefinite pillage 
at every conquered city, or, if killed in battle, to go 
quick to paradise. The lands were imperfectly tilled, 
while the flower of the population was drafted into the 
army, and the two concomitants of war, famine and 
petilence, often spread the pall of death upon the dev- 
astated lands. 

The student in history will not consider the picture 
overdrawn. We could give only suggestive indica- 
tions, representative statements, leaving the reader to 
fill, ad libitum, the fearful breadth of the subject. We 
shall, therefore, regard the calamities of the sixth trum- 
pet, with its emphatic " woe " added, to be fully met 
by the facts of history, in the time and locality assigned 
them. 



54 ESCHATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER Y. 

THE PERIOD OP ANTICHRIST. 

The date of Antichrist — Important Evidence of Chapter X — ITo'p.'- 
Antichrist Identified — By Propliecj — By liis Persecution of tlie 
Saints — By Temporal Autocrac}^ — Is a Roman Power — Tlirco 
Stages in tlio Development of Antichrist — AYhat tlie Argument 
Claims to have Proven under this Head. 

At the risk of seeminor to diverq-e from tlie true line 
of argument we shall here submit a statement of the 
character and period of the twelve hundred and sixty 
years of antichrist. This is d.ue to any faithful exposi- 
tion of the "last things," and is here due accord.ing to 
the chronological scheme we have adopted. 

THE TWELVE IIUXDEED AXD SIXTY YEAKS OF ANTICHRIST. 

The chronology of the apocalypse is the vexed ques- 
tion of unfullilled prophecy. The chief difficulty of 
explaining and applying prophetic symbols would be 
removed if we could identify their archetypes in the 
facts of history, and this again would be more easily 
accomplished if we could settle the dates and periods 
of the Apocalypse in their true order. An important 
step is gained by settling the true scope and scheme of 
the book itself. Indeed, till this be done we may say 
of the writer, " he walks on in darkness." We have not 
space here even to enumerate the various theories, but 
must content ourselves by simply stating our own; which 
is, that the design of the Book of Revelation is to sketch 
an outline of the history of the Church from the time 
of John down to the final judgment-day — giving her 



The Period of Ajs^ticiirist. 55 

struggles, her sufferings, her triumphs, her final success 
and glorious reward, together with the bloody type and 
the everlasting doom of her enemies. 

As one object of prophecy is "to forewarn and fore- 
arm the Church," it has ever been the method of divine 
wisdom to keep before the eye of faith, and " the mind 
that hath wisdom," some intimations of the providential 
future relating to the holy seed, including with greater 
or less clearness a description, not only of the more im- 
portant facts which should transpire, but some hints, 
also, as to time. Thus the residence of the Hebrews in 
Egypt, the bondage in Babylon, the first advent of 
Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem, with numerous 
other events of lesser moment are examples of this kind. 
Inquiry, therefore, into the providential future of the 
Church is both relevant and important when reverently 
and discreetly made by the light of prophecy and the 
facts of history. As to time, different methods of nota- 
tion are adopted in Scripture. The simplest is to put 
down the period in solar years. But, except in a few 
instances, chiefly the " four hundred years' " residence 
in Egj^Dt (Gen. xv, 13), and their "seventy years'" 
captivity in Babylon (Jer. xxv, 11, 12), there is scarce- 
ly a mention made of solar time for the measurement 
of prophetic cycles. Another mode, of greater fre- 
quency, is by symbolic time, or Avhere a lesser period is 
put for a greater, as a day for a year, a week for seven 
years, a month for thirty years, or a year of three hun- 
dred and sixt}^ days for three hundred and sixty years. 
Thus, the "seventy v.- eeks " of Daniel (chap, ix, 24) arc 
70 weeks symbolic time, equaling 490 years. Tlie 
"forty-two months" of John (Kev. xi, 2) are 42 times 
30, equaling 1260 j^ears — always reckoning in symbolic 
time a clay for a year and thirty days to a month. So, 
also, tite "time, and times, and half a time," or "time, 



56 ESCHATOL 



OGY. 



times, and the dividing of time" (Rev. xii, 14; Dan. 
vii, 25) are a year, two years, and a half year, which, 
reckoning three hundred and sixty days to a year and 
counting each day as the symbol of a year, as in Ezek. 
iv, 6, make twelve hundred and sixty years. The "thou- 
sand two hundred and threescore days" (Rev. xi, 3), 
are, in like manner, twelve hundred and sixty years. 

Tw^o other methods are resorted to, and are by far 
the more common and simple, whereby to give a clue 
to the question of events; namely, the order' of events 
and the nature and descriptive circumstances of events. 
These are brought out Avith great prominence in the 
Apocalypse; the former only giving a general idea 
of time prior to the event, but both being of indispens- 
able value in connection with other methods. For in- 
stance, where events occur serially, it is obvious that if 
the first, or any one link of the series, can be identified 
in history it is easy to trace the connection ]3rogress- 
ively or regressively, as the case may be; particularly 
if, midway of this chain, an important chronological 
link becomes indisputably recognizable, a large gain is 
made toward the unfolding of tlie subsequent periods. 
]SJ"ow, such a recognizable feature is found in the twelve 
hundred atid sixty years of antichrist. We are guided 
in our searchings after this important date by the fre- 
quent notations of symbolic phrase, by the general law 
of serial order, and by the light of descriptive circum- 
stances. The reader will perceive these coincidences un- 
folded in the progress and development of our argument. 
To fix the date of this antichristian period has been a 
focal point, to which criticism and investigation have 
been directed with no common zeal and dilis^ence. If this 
can be done, the present status of the Church can be 
clearly defined and its more immediate future forestalled. 

The period of the reign of antichrist, including an 



The Pekiod of Antichrist. 57 

account of liis downfall, lias received greater formality 
and fullness of description and a bolder outline of 
chronological limitation than any period of the apoca- 
lyptic visions, filling one third the entire book of Rev- 
elation. The struggles of the Church Avith pagan Rome, 
with the northern barbarians who disrupted the Western 
Empire, together with the overflowing scourge of the 
Mohammedans, embracing the periods of the entire six 
seals and six of the trumpet periods under the seventh 
seal, were dismissed in less than half the space in the 
four preceding chapters. 

The tenth chapter of Revelation marks an interval 
in the prophecy and must be regarded as a formal 
prelude to the grand and terriiic which was to follow. 
It was the moment of a solemn announcement. The 
most terrible enemy the Church Avould ever be called 
to grapple with, or had ever grappled with, now pre- 
sented himself. When Daniel had beheld him in the 
remote distance " he was grieved in his spirit, the 
visions of his head troubled him," and " his countenance 
was changed." Dan. vii, 15, 28. The period was to be 
long, and the conflicts of the Church mighty; and now, 
lest it should be inferred that because the seventh seal 
liad been opened, and six of the trumpet periods under 
that seal already passed, the end of the Church's war- 
fare had come, and the time of her sufl'erings was over, 
a mighty angel descended from heaven, and with one 
foot upon the sea and the other upon the earth, and 
with his hand lifted toward heaven, in form of taking a 
solemn oath, " sware by him that liveth for ever and 
ever, ort xpovog ovk ecrc en, that the time shall not he yet, 
but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, v^hen he 
shall sound,^' the mystery of God should be finished " — 

* This is certainly the true rendering. It is well known that //f/lAw 
is often used to express simple futurily, as in Matt. xi. 14: Luke 
5 



58 ESCIIATOLOGY. 

the mystery of his providence which allov/ecl so great 
sufferings to fall upon his Church. Immediately after 
the delivery of this prologue, contained in the tenth 
chapter, follow various independent representations of 
this antichristian power: its nature, its enormous expan- 
sion, its malignant persecutions of the faithful, its cor- 
ruptions and blasphemy, and its everlasting overthrow. 
From tlie beginning of the tenth chapter to the eleventh 
verse of the nineteenth chapter the descriptions are 
entirely engrossed with the history and doom of anti- 
christ and the events connected therewith. After the 
downfall of antichrist the thread of the prophetic nar- 
rative is resumed only at chapter xix, 11. 

As the principal object here is to determine the date 
of this antichristian period as nearly as may be by 
solar measurement, we hasten to this point. In seven 
different places, by the varied computation of " days," 
'* months," and " times," the years of the reign of anti- 
christ are put down by Daniel and John at just twelve 
hundred and sixty years. Dan. vii, 25, and xii, 7; Rev. 
xi, 2, 3, and xii, 6, and xiii, 5. Is there no moral sig- 
nificance in this fact ? Is the question of time a matter 
of simple curiosity ? Was it intended to baffle human 
research and inquiry ? We humbly think not. If, then, 
antichrist is to reign twelve hundred and sixty solar 
years, and is then, according to the explicit statements 
of prophecy seven times recorded, to fall to rise no more, 
it is apparent that to fix the date of this period, to de- 
termine where in the Christian era it begins, is to supply 

ix, 31, et al. The angel evidently intended only to declare the time 
to be yet future when " the mystery of God should be finished;" but 
that it should bo certainly llnislied "in the days of the voice of the 
seventh angel." The sequel shows that it was late in the seventh 
trumpet period when the "mystery of God" was finished, in the 
downfall of Babylon, which forever ended the Church's persecutions 
and suCferinGTS. 



The Period of Anticiikist. 59 

new matter of courage and consolation, of hope and 
faithfulness to an afflicted Church. 

Where, then, do the twelve hundred and sixty years 
begin ? This attained, and it is easily determined 
where shall be the end. Tlie question can be answered 
only by a careful attention to descriptive circumstances 
involving the character, form, and proportions of anti- 
christ. We arrive at the solution by a sort of induc- 
tive process. For instance, when all the characteristics 
of the antichrist of the Apocalypse as laid down in 
prophecy are brought together and submitted, then the 
historic ]->ower, or agency, or organization which is 
found to embody in itself all these, and to fall within 
the historic order and relation of time and sequence in- 
dicated, must be assumed to be the real and historic 
prototype and impersonation of these prophetic symbols 
and delineations. In no other way could the question 
be solved, from the nature of the case. But it must be 
remembered that mathematical accuracy in solar days 
and years we do not assume to teach. The details of 
the argument do not fall within our plan, but we must 
generalize our statements under two heads; namely, the 
moral character of antichrist, and his external form. It 
is only by the outgrowth, or external and organic form, 
that we are able to trace and fix the true chronos of his 
existence. 

• 1. The antichrist of prophecy, especially of the Apoc- 
alypse and Daniel, is an apostate Christian Church. His 
profession is Christian ; his doctrine and practice anti- 
christian. Paul says, " The day of the Lord shall not 
come, except there come (?/ arrooraota) the apostasy 
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdi- 
tion, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that 
is called God, or that is worshiped ; so that he as God 
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is 



60 ESCHATOLOGY. 

God." 2 Tliess. ii, 3, 4. Here is a cliaracter denomi- 
nated '' the son of perdition," yet " sitting in the temple 
of God," and assuming, with blasphemous hypocrisy, 
the prerogatives of God. His whole character is 
given in this connection by the apostle. The same 
character is mentioned Rev. xiii, 11, as a "Beast," of 
kingly authority, " who had two horns like a lamb, but 
he spake like a dragon." In Rev. xvii, 1, 5, John de- 
scribes the same power under the image of a "harlot 
. . . THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS " — the Standing symbol 
of an apostate, idolatrous Church. Rev. xvii. See Ezek. 
xvi and" xxviii. The merchandise of mystic Babylon 
was in the (aojfiarojv Kac ipv^ag avO^oTToyv) " bodies cmd 
souls of men.'''' Rev. xviii, 18. She trafficked in the 
temporal and eternal interests of mankind. 

2. Antichrist was to be the great persecutor 6i the 
saints, the terror of the Church. "He shall wear out 
the saints of the Most High," says Daniel, and shall 
" make war with the saints and prevail against them," 
" and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people." 
Dan. vii, 21, 25, and viii, 24. John saw the " harlot" 
" drunken Avitli the blood of the saints and with the 
blood of the martyrs of Jesus," and in "Babylon" "vv\as 
found the blood of prophets and of saints." Rev. xvii, 
6, and xviii, 24. John abounds in descriptions of anti- 
christ as a persecuting power. 

3. Antichrist is a temporal and spiritual autocracy. 
Daniel says, "He shall think to change times and laws; 
and they shall be given into his hand until time, times, 
and the dividing of time " (twelve hundred and sixty 
years), Dan. vii, 25 — a phrase which exactly denotes the 
absolute prerogative of God as the supreme Ruler of 
human affairs, as the same prophet himself teaches 
(chap, ii, 21, "And he [God] changeth the times and the 
seasons ; he removeth kings, and sctteth up kings." 



The Period of Antichrist. G1 

Paul says tliat lie, the man of sin, antichrist, "opposetli 
and exaltetli himself above all that is called God, or 
that is worshiped, so that lie as God sitteth in the tem- 
ple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. 
ii, 4. Antichrist, as the word imports, is that organized 
])Ower which openly and directly antagonizes God. 
The issue between them is as to Avhich shall have the 
sovereign government of this world ; or, in other lan- 
guage, v.diich shall rule and dominate the faith and 
conscience and moral liberty of mankind. The issue is 
stated Matt, iv, 9, 10. The assumption of supremacy 
over human affairs, both in temporal and spiritual 
things, rightfully belongs to God. 

4. Antichrist is a Roman power of a new and pe- 
culiar type, not of civic Rome, but a power Roman in 
its character. This will be considered soon. 

5. Antichrist is a Roman power of the later period, 
to arise after the extinction of the Roman Empire in 
the AYest. This also will soon be considered. 

G. Antichrist is a political sovereignty. Daniel rep- 
resents it under the symbol of a " Aon?," the standing 
symbol of a kingdom : " I considered the horns, and 
behold there came up among them another little liorn^ 
before whom there were three of the first horns plucked 
up by the roots : and behold, in this horn were eyes like 
the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. . . . 
I beheld them, because of the voice of the great words 
which the [little] horn spake. . . . And another [the little 
horn] shall rise after them ; and he shall be diverse 
from the first, and he shall subdue three kings, and he 
shall speak great words against the Most High," etc. 
Dan. vii, 8, 11, 24, 25. John also speaks of antichrist 
as "the beast that was, and is not, and j^et is . . . and 
the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and 
is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." Rev. xvii, 



62 ESCIIA.TOLOGY. 

8, 11. Both ^^heast'^ and ^^ J torn " are symbols of king- 
dom. It is not necessary to this part of the argument 
to amplify j^roof of these points. It will not be dis- 
jDuted that the character denominated the antichrist of 
Daniel and of John does combine the traits given. 

IsTow, the point of tlie argument lies here : at what- 
ever period the Church is found to have taken on these 
several characteristics, at that period we are to look for 
the date of antichrist. It is a simple search into the his- 
tory of the Church for the embodied, historic prototype 
of the symbolic descriptions of prophecy. 

It should be further considered, however, that some 
of the characteristics of antichrist are moral and relig- 
ious and some are political. In the former the evidence 
as to the exact solar date is not easily fixed. It is like 
determining the day or year when a word becomes ob- 
solete. It was once in vogue; it is now obsolete and 
dropped from the vocabulary. Somewhere within the 
two hundred years past it began to fall into disuse; at 
length it was marked rare, and at last obsolete, but the day 
or year of the change no lexicographer can tell. But 
he does know that it was once in use, but is noAV in dis- 
use. It is thus in determining the exact date of the 
apostasy of the Church, so far as relates to simply moral 
causes. It began, as a seedling, in Paul's day. He saw, 
Vv^ith his eye on this subject, the tendencies to anti- 
christianism, and was endued with prophetic foresight 
to predict the distant result: ''The mystery of inquity 
cloth already work," he says, " that he may be revealed 
in his time." 2 Thess. ii, 6, 7. Seven hundred years 
later the gigantic ^proportions of the man of sin we find 
fully developed. 

As antichrist is a political sovereign, as well as a 
moral and religious apostate, it Avill be seen that we are 
hereby furnislied with a historic test by facts and dates 



The Period of Antichrist. 63 

by which we can certainly identify his person and de- 
termine the date of his appearing. This will be fully 
stated in its time. At present we aim to indicate the 
nature and limit of our inquiry. 

1. The order of our inquiry leads us to determine the 
period of the apostasy of the Church. We do not ask, 
At wdiat age did the Church depart from the sim-plicity 
of the apostles ? But at wdiat period did she become 
so corrupt as to answer the descriptions of prophecy 
relating to antichrist — the " man of sin,"_ " the great 
harlot," mystic "Babylon," the "little horn," the 
"eighth head of the beast," (Rev. xvii, 11) the remorse- 
less persecutor of the saints ? The three gradational 
stages mark the downward progress of the Church to 
her great aj^ostasy. These we shall denominate the 
hierarchal ^yeriod, the State Church period, and tlie period 
of the revolt of the popes from, the dominion of the 
Eastern emperors. 

During the first three centuries the Church had grown 
up a separate establishment from the State, and had, 
from A'arious causes, developed the idea and form of a 
spiritual or ecclesiastical hierarchy, culminating in the 
bishop of Rome. The doctrine of the absolute unity 
of the Church, holding guardianship of the spiritual 
efficacy of all the sacraments and of all channels of 
grace, made the doctrine of a spiritual autocracy or 
headship necessary, and the bishop of Rome w^as desig- 
nated as that head. The maxim, as old as Cyprian, '■'■extra 
ecclesiam nidla salits,^'' was a most natural conclusion. 
Here, then, the foundation of a spiritual despotism was 
laid. The outlines of the character of " the man of sin," 
sitting "in the temple of God and showing himself that 
he is God," were formed. It took form in the blasphe- 
mous exaltation of the spiritual office. By the spiritual 
power vested in the clergy it placed them between 



64 ILSCHATOLOGY. 

Christ and the devout soul, merging first the Church into 
the hierarchy, and then the hierarchy into the |)npacy, 
assuming tlie absolute vicegerency of Christ upon the 
earth, and dooming with anathema all schism, dissent, 
or protest from this standard. 

Such was the form and fashion which the Church be- 
gan to take on prior to the fourth century. Innocent 
I., in the beginning of the fifth century, and Leo the 
Great, forty years later, consolidated the foundations 
of this new monarchy, and Gregory the Great, at the 
close of the sixth century, carried forward the structure 
to completion in all essential features. The spiritual 
hierarchy thus erected was the first grand stej) in the 
apostasy. 

2. Another step was taken in the fourth and subse- 
quent centuries by erecting this hierarchical establish- 
ment into a State Church. Under the Christian empe- 
rors, from the time of Constantine the Great, A. D. 313, 
the Church became a branch of the civil polity. Hith- 
erto the Church had grown up a separate establish- 
ment, and as it operated from the force and genius of 
the Christian life and doctrine, it antagonized directly, 
not only with paganism as a religious institution, but 
with the genius of the Roman polity as an offspring of 
pagan intellect, ambition, and superstition. It had 
gained mightily during the previous two hundred years, 
or since the death of the apostle John. The first scene 
in the apocalyptic drama, upon opening the " first seal," 
was that of the mighty sjoread of the Gospel. It became 
obvious, therefore, that either the empire must over- 
come Christianity, or Christianity would revolutionize 
the empire, or they must unite upon some middle 
ground of compromise. This last device was adopted 
by Constantine, and Christianity arose a State Church. 

But by exalting the Church in her wealth and exter- 



The Period of Axticiirist. < 65 

nal jDOwer and privilege, through this union, she became, 
in an inverse proportion, spiritually debased and cor- 
rupted, and the unholy alliance became the second 
grand step downv/ard in her great apostasy. As the 
spiritual hierarchy had been developed and advocated 
by Cyprian, so the State Church theory became the 
heau ideal of church perfection with Augustine ; and. 
the idea and model which her Avriters and learned men 
supplied her secularized clergy reduced to form, and 
hardened into law, and enforced as dogma, as fast as the 
progress of things would allow. 

3. During the period of this State Church existence, 
however, the bishop of Rome and the whole Church 
were overshadowed by the authority of the Romano- 
Byzantine emperors, and never reached, and in the nat- 
ure of the case never could reach, the full height and 
proportions of that antichristian prototype which iilled 
the eye and gave birth to the symbolism of prophecy. 
While Rome remained subject to the Eastern emperors 
their ecclesiastical as well as temporal supremacy was 
never openly opposed by the popes and clergy. Jus- 
tinian, in his revision of Roman law, legislates equally 
for the Church and State, and settles every thing by 
imperial authority, " from the creed on the Trinity to 
the number of blows of the scourge to be inflicted or 
pious ejaculations to be uttered for each offense under 
the penitential code," * It is true that Gregory II,, 
writing to the emperor Leo, pleads that princes should 
not intermeddle with the affairs of the Church; but this 
was only in abatement of the alarming and unprece- 
dented reach of power assumed by that most incorrigi- 
ble iconoclast, and was also the date of the final revolt 
of the popes from the tyranny of the emperors. The 
emperors were always a check upon the popes, and 
*MilmaD. 



66 EsCIiATOLOGY. 

* 

restrained and baffled tlieir ambition, and often liunfibled 
them, as well by their own as by the petty tyranny of 
the exarchs. 

It was only after the popes had shaken off their con- 
nection with and dependence on the emperors, and be- 
came a separate and independent power, the assumed 
representatives and defenders of the Italian cause, 
standing unawed and isolated in their gigantic usurpa- 
tions, that the Church rapidly reached the full dimen- 
sions of her predicted apostasy. This was about the 
middle of the eighth century. Pope Gregory II. came 
in collision with and openly revolted from, the dominion 
of the emperors, and their power practically died in the 
West with the emperor Leo, A. D. 741. " With Pope 
Gregory III," says Milman, with his eye on this very 
point, " we enter upon a new epoch of Latin Christian- 
ity." These facts are of fundamental importance in 
fixing the date of antichrist, as the reader will soon 
see. 

Here, then, are three stages in the historic develop- 
ment of antichrist as an apostate Church — which we 
have denominated the hierarclial period, the State 
Church period, and the epoch of the revolt of the 
popes from the dominion of the Eastern emperors and 
their assumption of control of the powers of human 
governments. 

This last epoch alone was marked by that well- 
defined trait of antichrist, already mentioned, when he 
"should think to change times and laws;" an assump- 
tion of the absolute prerogative of God. This was the 
crowning act of church apostasy, and nothing is better 
attested in history than that the popes did not assume 
it until the period of their revolt from the dominion of 
the emperors, and that they did assume it then. 

The moral status of the Church was now clearlv 



The Period of Axtichrist. 67 

anticbristian, and its relative attitude toward the civil 
powers of the world brings it forth in distinct individ- 
uality. Its character and its acts are no longer com- 
plicated with State supremacy, but arc stritjtly its own. 
Tlie doctrine of one Catholic Church — the repository of 
all ecclesiastical power, and with all spiritual power for 
temporal absolution, and the channel for all sacramental 
grace for eternal salvation — had become a dogma. The 
primacy of St. Peter and the lineal descent of the popes 
from him had been an accredited tenet from the begin- 
ning of the fifth century — about two hundred years. 
The doctrine of a theocratic Church had drawn after it 
the inference that all seeming variations of oj)inion, 
being opposed to the unity of the Church, should be 
prohibited imder anathema and suppressed by authority. 
The prohibition of the use and reading of such books 
as were supposed to contain heretical or injurious doc- 
trine had been enforced under anathema since the fifth 
century. Image worship, which had become only a 
compromise with heathenism and a substitute for idol 
worship, had become so thoroughly rooted, and so uni- 
versally popular, that not even the whole civil authority 
of the Roman government, under two successive emper- 
ors, enforced by a sanguinary civil Avar, could displace 
or even check it in the West. The Teutonic and other 
barbarian conquerors of the West could easily transfer 
their adoration of the old divinities to the Virgin Mary 
and tlie saints. The penitential system had practically 
supplanted the evangelical doctrines of repentance and 
faith, and placed in the hands of the clergy the tem- 
poral punishment of sin. Monasticism, celibacy of the 
clergy, priestly absolution, auricular confession, the su- 
perstitious veneration of the sacraments, the denial 
of the holy Scriptures (particularly any translation but 
the Latin Vulgate) to the common people, the I'ight of 



68 ESCHATOLOGY. 

tlie Church to enforce uniformity of faith by civil and 
corporal penalties, the authority of tradition in deter- 
mining the sense of Scriptui"e and the rights of the 
Church ; these and other features of the " man of sin " 
had developed to full antichristian proportions. In- 
deed, the student in Church history will not dispute the 
antichristian character of the Cliurch at this time, but 
will object, rather, that we have not placed it earlier. 
To this, however, we repeat the answer, that the arclie- 
typal idea of prophecy concerning the Church's apos- 
tasy could not be historically developed and realized 
while the Church remained as a subordinate power of 
the Roman polity. And again, some features of the 
apostasy matured earlier than others. Her assuming 
to "change times and laws" could never, from the 
nature of the case, co-exist Avith her subordination to 
civil powers. Tlie bond between the Roman Church 
and the imperial Roman State must be severed. The 
State Church period of her history must be terminated ; 
and she, thus individualized, standing isolated and 
apart, must be contemplated as acting out the genius 
of her own character unawed and unrestrained. The 
force of the argument under this head is to date the 
Church's apostasy, in her full antichristian proportions, 
at the middle of the eighth century, near to A. D. 
756. 

4. We are to consider the antichrist of prophecy was 
to be a Roman power. We mean not simply that it 
was to grow up w^ithin the limits of the old Roman Em- 
pire or that it was to have its seat in the ancient city 
of Rome — both which are true; much less that it w^as 
the civic empire restored; but that i was to be Roman 
in its character — the reproduction, in a form altogether 
new and peculiar, of the essential features and traits of 
the okl Roman dominion. Daniel saw this jiower as 



Thp: Period of Antichrist. 69 

"a little horn" rising out of the head of the "beast." 
Dan. yii, 7, 8; Rev. xvii, 11. The government of the 
emperors would pass away, but antichrist, like a phe- 
nix, would rise from its ashes. Imperial Rome would 
perish, but, like the chrysalis, it was to inclose tiie ele- 
ments of a new organization, which, after being warmed 
by the milder influences of Christianity, would be par- 
tially transformed and evolved into life. If it could be 
said of John the Baptist, coming in "the spirit and 
power of Elijah," that he " was Elijah," by the same 
law of language, and a slighter metonymy, could the 
antichrist of Daniel and the Apocalypse be called Ro- 
man. The civil empire of Rome was demolished in 
the West by the barbarous nations of Northern Eu- 
rojie, in the East b}^ the Saracens and Turks ; but in 
the West the Roman character long survived, as in the 
East the Greek and Asiatic traits still remained. The 
civil subjugation or even the Christianization of a 
peoj^le does not annihilate the idiosyncrasies of na- 
tional character, though it would give them a new 
direction. 

Three principal traits distinguish the Roman type of 
character : law, submission, dominion. The Roman 
mind was not speculative or inquisitive like the Greek, 
but legislative and practical. Philosophy was not in- 
digenous to Italy, but was always cultivated there as 
an exotic. But history and jurisprudence suited their 
genius ; and of the latter it may be said, in the language 
of Frederic Schlegel, " it is the only original intellectual 
possession of great value to which the Romans can lay 
undisputed claim." In jurisprudence was represented 
the true bent and greatness of the Roman mind. The 
conquests of their victorious legions supplied new mate- 
rials for the delibt3rations of the Senate, and the applica- 
tion of that juridical polity which enwrapped in its iron 



70 ESCIIATOLOGT. 

folds the world, as known to the ancients west of the 
Euphrates. The dominion of the world was the dream 
of the emperor, and the inborn conceit and passion of 
the subject. Age after age had left its distinct impres- 
sion of nationality, and generation after generation had 
inherited the spirit of that " compact unity, that lofty 
pride, that grasping dominion, that sublime patriot- 
ism," y/hich had at last erected the colossal proportions 
of a despotism such as the world had never seen. 
Daniel calls it " dreadful and terrible, and strong ex- 
ceedingly " (Dan. vii, 7), nnd all allusions to it in the 
Apocalypse are of the same character. We speak here 
of pagan Rome. 

What form of Christianity could be expected to rise 
among such a people, after the spiritual life had de- 
clined and the Chui'ch was thrown back upon its forms? 
After the civil empire had become extinct, and the 
spiritual life of the Church had declined into the mere 
chivalry of nominal proselytism, the genius of the peo- 
ple would naturally erect a spiritual absolutism in the 
Church by the laws of moral affinity and the force of 
national tendencies; and it was thus the Roman hie- 
rarchy became a most philosophic result. It was simply 
the outgrowth of the mental habits and sentiments of 
the peojjle, when the liighcu' life of Christianity ceased 
to become the law of action, when the frame- work of 
civil government was demolished by the barbarians, 
leaving the Church as the ruling force and hope of 
society. The fall of Rome left the pope the most in- 
fluential man in Europe, and Church doctrine and dis- 
cipline the strongest bond of society. 

At an early period of Christianity the decline of 
spiritual life gave ]3rominence to national and provincial 
tendencies in the Church. The Greek mind, ever given 
to speculation, its philosophy "insatiably inquisitive," 



The Period of Antichrist. VI 

its devotees ^' spending their time in nothing else but 
either to tell or to hear some new thing," early betrayed 
the Church into disputations npon profitless and im- 
practicable abstractions. For centuries almost all the 
controversies which agitated the Church arose from 
those portions of the world pervaded by the Greek mind 
and genius. Less anxious for the exterior form of the 
Church than for the metaphysical basis and the etiolog- 
ical history of her doctrines, the Greek mind became 
prolific of questions which engendered factions, dis- 
turbed the general quiet, and quenched the living flame 
of piety. The tendency of the Western, or Latin, por- 
tion of the Church was exactly the reverse. The 
lioman tnind, averse to philosophy, accustomed to sub- 
mission, and satisfied with the plain, authoritative state- 
ments of truth, rested in the more quiet element of 
unquestioning faith ; and, impelled by its own genius 
to the outwardness and juridical character of religion, 
devoted itself to the consolidation of the Christian 
body under one compact, digested code of discipline, 
administered by a hierarchy of which the bishop of 
Rome was the culminating head. The tendency of the 
Roman mind, says Milman, was to "harden into in- 
flexible statute that which before had been left to usage, 
opinion, and feeling. The East enacted creeds, the 
West discipline." It is easy to perceive, also, how, in 
such a condition of things, the habit of appealing con- 
troversies to the umpirage of the bishop of Rome 
should have grown up almost insensibly among the 
churches. In the fourth century (A. D. 347) the right 
of appeal to the bishop of Rome was established by 
the orthodox council of Laodicea, and sanctioned in 
A. D. 379 by the emperors Gratian and Valentinian, 
and in A. D. 421 the same was further confirmed by 
imperial authority by Valentinian III. 



12 ESCHATOLOGY. 

How could it be otherwise than that power should 
concentrate at Rome ? The '' eternal city " had been 
for centuries the political and commercial center of 
the world. Trade, travel, politics, art, news, fashion — 
all had a central relation to Rome. The removal of 
the seat of empire (about A. D. 330) from Rome to 
Constantinople, though it greatly depopulated Italy and 
weakened the civil power of the West, could not de- 
prive Rome of all her ancient greatness, and became an 
occasion of increasing the power of the papacy. By 
thus removing at such a distance the presence of the 
emperor, it left the bishop, as we have said, the most 
influential person in Europe, and for four centuries the 
events of the Church and of the empire tended to con- 
firm and exalt the primacy of the see of St. Peter, 
with a constant, though generally insensible, advance 
of power in political affairs. 

The Latin language, the natural bond of the Roman 
family, continued long to preserve both the unity and 
pre-eminence of the Roman character. It was the lan- 
guage of the Vulgate Scriptures, of the liturgy, of the 
literature and learning of the Romans; and after the 
irruptions of the barbarous nations, when a babel of 
tongues threatened to deluge Europe, the Latin became 
more than ever not only a bond of Roman unity, but 
an instrument of priestly craft and ascendency. For a 
long time Romans only were intrusted with episcopal 
dignit}'. It was late in the sixth century (A. D. 566) 
before any but a Roman by birth appeared among the 
lists of the Frankish bishops. Popes Leo and Gregory 
the Great, both Romans by birth, and proudly inherit- 
ing the spirit of their ancestry, were scarcely less ambi- 
tious for the grandeur and perpetuity of Rome than for 
the defense and extension of the Christian faith. They 
were good representatives of the prevalent genius of 



The Period of Antichrist. 73 

the papacy. They both marked epochs in the papacy 
and in the history of Christianity, and both developed 
the Roman type of mind in a new phase. " With Leo," 
says Milman, " Panl and Peter were tlie Romulns and 
Remns of Christian Rome," and with Gregory church 
extension was but a new form of Roman conquest. 

Such was the spirit of the papacy and of the hie- 
rarchy. All missionary conquest abroad was consoli- 
dated under the absolute rule of the Roman see, not by 
the voluntary choice of the nominally converted 
nations, but by virtue^of the divine right of the suc- 
cessors of St. Peter to universal dominion. Heresy, 
hence, became treason, and insubordination was pun- 
ished as a crime. The penitential system was not less 
rigid than the Roman military discipline, and its penal- 
ties far more terrible to superstition than fines, scourges, 
imprisonment, or even death. The whole papal theory 
of church government and spiritual authority is but 
the reproduction, in a new form, of the Roman idea of 
dominion. Popery could have arisen to complete suc- 
cess nowhere but in Rome ; and the Church, having 
once lost its divine life, could take on no other form 
but popery in Rome and among native Romans. 

So far as these suggestions have any bearing upon 
the question of the date of antichrist, it maybe observed 
that though the argument naturally connects itself with 
the paragraph which follows, without which it is incom- 
plete, yet it is obvious that, as a Roman power, anti- 
christ could not arise until Christianity had first con- 
quered pagan Rome; nor until afterward, when the 
Church, having lost its spiritual life and apostolic sim- 
plicity, had become, in its turn, interpenetrated by the 
reactive force of the Roman genius and character; nor 
until, finally, the convulsions of Europe had oj^ened the 
arena for the ambitious aspirations of the papacy, 
6 



74 ESCHATOLOGY. 

which would bring us down to the middle of the eighth 
century. This will appear more definite in the follow- 
ing paragraph. 

5. But antichrist is not only a Roman poAver, but a 
Homan power of the later prophetic period — the last 
development of the old Roman dominion, which was to 
rise after the final extinction of the civil powers of the 
Roman emperors in Italy. The argument under this 
head is more conclusive as to date, because relating 
more exclusively to political events. We shall give only 
a summary of the argument. 

In Rev. xvii the angel calls the attention of John 
to the doom of antichrist: "I will show unto thee," he 
says, "the judgment of the great whore that sitteth 
upon many waters." She is represented as sitting upon 
a "scarlet colored beast," which had "seven heads and 
ten horns" — the standing symbol of the Roman power. 
That this "beast" represents a Roman power is obvious 
from the context, from the symbolism of both Daniel 
and John, and is so generally admitted by Protestant 
writers that we shall consider it as conceded without 
discussion. The present argument relates to the " seven 
heads," their order and continuance, and the succession 
of the "eighth head," mentioned in verse 11. These 
heads are thus explained by the angel interpreter. 
Vers. 9 and 10. "The seven heads are seven mount- 
ains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven 
kings [or, they are seven kings, ISTew Version]: five are 
fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and 
when he cometh, he must continue a short space." If, 
in this wonderful statement, we take the word " mount- 
ains " here literally, it Avould be most natural to under- 
stand it of the "seven hills" on which the city of 
Rome stood. But it seems more in accordance with 
the style of the prophet to understand it symbolically 



Tin: Period of Antichrist, Vo 

to denote forms of sovereignty, as in Isa. ii, 2, and 
xi, 9; Jer. li, 25; Dan. ii, 35; Zech. iv, 7. Thus the 
"seven heads" and 'the "seven mountains" are ex- 
jDlaincd in verse 10 to be seven kings, which, in pro- 
l>hetic idiom, are seven forms of government. This 
exactly corresponds to historic truth. Tacitus, the 
Roman annalist and historian, writing about the same 
time that John wrote the Apocalypse, in his enumer- 
ation of the different forms of IJoman government says: 
"Rome has been governed by kings, by consuls, by 
dictators, by decemvirs, and by military tribunes with 
consular authority."* The triumvirates rather marked 
periods of disturbance, and were temporary and transi- 
tional. Tacitus mentions five, not including the impe- 
rial, which existed at the time of writing. John says 
"five are fallen, and one is, [the imperial] and the other 
is not yet come." The coincidence is complete. There 
was but one other form of Roman civil government in 
Italy after the imperial, and that was the lieutenancy, 
or ex-archate, which, says John, " is not yet come; and 
when he cometh, he must continue a short space." It 
existed in Italy from A. D. 554 to A. T>. 752. The 
Romnn power Avas commonly symbolized by a beast 
with seven heads. Rev. xii, 3; xiii, 1. 

Now, our argument lies here. It was after these 
seven forms of Roman government should have passed 
away that the " eighth " form should arise. It is to this 
eighth form that the attention is specially called by the 
angel nuncio. It is this eighth power that is to be the 
great persecuting power, the terror of the world, the 
reproduction of the entire beast, antichrist : " And the 
beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is 
of the seven, and goeth into perdition." Ver. 11. In 
verse 8 it is called "the beast that was, and is not, and 
♦Tacitus, Annah^ lib. i, cap. 1. 



76 ESCHATOLOGY. 

yet is;" that is, the beast tliat existed, then ceased to 
exist, and then re-appeared. The Roman government 
existed under its " seventh head," (the ex-archate) one 
hundred and ninety-eight years, till A. D. 752. It then 
ceased to exist. It soon aftervi^ard re-appeared under 
its eighth head, the papacy in its full anti-Christian 
proportions. The dominion of this eighth head was 
indeed peculiar, a form sui generis, but so universal, so 
absolute, so intensely Roman — etc tgh enra eon — it was 
out of the seven — both in the persons that swayed it 
and its genius and character, that it might well be said 
the entire beast re-appeared in this head. It was the 
last development of the Roman type of sovereignty^ 

We claim, then, that this description of the prophet 
proves that antichrist was to be the last development of 
Roman power, and that it was to appear after the civil 
government of the emperors had become extinct in Italy 
and the West, after the last form of the old civil do- 
minion had passed away; that is, as history settles the 
date, after A. D. 752. 

6. A further argument on the date of antichrist, cor- 
roborative of the foregoing, is found in Dan. vii, 8 ; 
XX, 24. After mentioning the "ten horns" of the beast 
as representing ten kingdoms which were to arise out 
of the ruins of the Roman Empire, the prophet speaks 
of another " little horn " that arose " before Avhom there 
were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots;" 
or, as it is elsewhere stated, " before whom three fell ; " 
and again, "he [the little horn] shall subdue three kingsy 
Here, then, it is specifically stated, in three different 
places, that three of the ten horns, or kingdoms, shall 
fall before, or be plucked up by, the little horn. Now, 
that this "little horn" is a representative of the iden- 
tical antichristian power of which John speaks under 
the symbols the "harlot," "the beast," "Babylon," the 



The Period of Axtichrist. T7 

"eighth head" of the beast, etc., and that the fall of 
the three kingdoms was a necessary preliminary to its 
full power and triumph, are too obvious to admit of 
dispute. 

The point, then, which concerns our present argument 
is, at what time did three of the ten kingdoms fall be- 
fore the little horn, or the papacy ? In determining 
this point it is obvious we must first go back a step and 
identify the ten kingdoms. In this we shall follow 
Dr. William Hales, the great clironologer, who, after 
Machiavel and Bishop Lloyd, gives the following list : 
The Iluns, in Hungary; the Ostrogoths, in Moesia and 
Italy ; the Visigoths, in Panonia [and Spain] ; the 
Yandals, in Africa; the Suevi and Alans, in Spain; the 
Burgundians, in Burgundy; the Heruli, in Italy ; the 
Saxons, in Briton, and the Lombards, in Lombardy. 
As this list is from Machiavel, himself a ^^apist, and 
has received the sanction of the celebrated chronolo- 
gers, Bishop Lloyd and Dr. Hales, with other great 
names we need not mention, we shall assume it without 
discussion. We regard it as the only defensible hy- 
pothesis, substantially, which has been offered. 

Another point it is needful to premise which is of 
still more importance to our argument. As the three 
horns that were plucked up seemed evidently, from all 
the descriptions, to have been directly and fatally in the 
way of the " little horn," or papacy, as obstacles to its 
ambitition, so that their extinction became a necessary 
contingent to the success of its schemes, we seem di- 
rected to Italy as the seat of their empire and the scene 
of their catastrophe. Nowhere else could they fatally 
obstruct the schemes of the papacy. The question, 
therefore, sim2:)lifies itself into tlie following : At what 
time did three of the ten kino-doms, havino; their seat 
in Italy, fall ? Wonderful are the coincidences of 



78 ESCHATOLOGY. 

history ! Just tliree — no more, no less — of these barba- 
rian kingdoms had their seat in Italy, and fell. The 
Heruli, under their king and leader, Odoacer, enter Italy, 
and by their conquest of the city of Rome, terminate the 
Western Roman Empire, A. D. 476. The Ostrogoths, 
under their king, Theodoric, conquer the Heruli, sub- 
A^ert their kingdom, and establish the Gothic soyereignty, 
A. D. 493. Their kingdom continues till A. D. 554, 
when it is in turn subverted by [Parses, and Rome once 
more becomes subject to the Eastern emperors. In 
A. D. '726 Rome revolts from the Greek emperors, and- 
in A. D. 752 the ex-archate, and with it the Roman 
civil power, is forever extinguished in Italy by the 
Lombards, whose rising fortunes now overshadow 
Rome and eclij^se the ambition of the papacy. The 
severest struggle that ever occurred between the popes 
and the barbaric kingdoms now ensued ; but by the 
sword of the Franks, in obedience to the call of the 
popes, the Lombards were expelled from Central Italy, 
and Rome forever delivei'ed from their power, A. D. 
756. Their kingdom is finally extinguished by Charle- 
magne, the great champion and supporter of the papal 
Church, A. D. 774. Thus the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, 
and the Lombards came in direct collision with the pa- 
pacy, and were " plucked up by the roots " and de- 
stroyed. We have slightly and unavoidably antici- 
pated the argument, which will soon be fully concluded 
and explained. 

The argument, therefore, under this head is conclu- 
sive, and stands thus : The rise of the " little horn " to 
the full proportion of antichrist is to follow immedi- 
ately upon the fall of three of the "ten kingdoms," 
which three stood directly "before," or in opposition 
to, the plans of the papacy ; the prophetic descriptions 
lead us to look to Italy as the theater of the rise and 



TiiK Period of Axtichrtst. Id 

f;ill of these "three kingdoms ;" the hist of the three 
Italian horns, or kingdoms, fell A. T>. 756 ; therefore 
this is the proper date of the establishment of the 
" little horn," in its fall proportion as antichrist, as 
given Dan. vii, 8, 20, 24. 

7. We come now to considei' more specifically the facts 
and manner by which the popes, according to the alleged 
investiture of St. Peter, became civil rulers, political 
sovereigns. Among the characteristics of antichrist, as 
given by Daniel and by John, is the oft-rei)eated one of 
political sovereigiitij. The hierarchy enslaved the souls 
and tyrannized over the consciences of men ; but no 
less definite and indelible, as the mark and test of anti- 
christ, was the assumption of supreme jurisdiction in 
civil matters. Daniel repeatedly represents this power 
under tlie symbol of a "horn" (Dan. vii, 8, 20, 21, 24, 
25), the standing symbol of a "kingdom." " Tlie ten 
horns out of this kingdom," lie says, " are ten kings 
that shall arise." Just as true as the "ten horns " de- 
noted ten political sovereignties, so true did the 
eleventh, or " little horn," which " arose after them," 
denote a political sovereignty. So also in Rev. xvii, 
9-11, just as true as the " seven heads" denoted seven 
forms of civil government, so truly did the "eighth" 
denote an eighth form of civil government. 13ut to 
make tlie "ten liorns" denote "ten kingdoms," and the 
" eleventh," or " little horn," denote a priesthood, or 
ecclesiastical power, would be a violation of the lavv s of 
symbolic interpretation. So, also, to make the " seven 
heads" (Rom. xvii, 9-11) denote seven forms of civil 
government, or sovereignty, and the " eighth " head to 
represent a priestly or ecclesiastical power, as such, is 
an equal violence done to righfc interpretation. 

The question, then, to be here settled simply relates to 
the time when the pope became a temporal prince, and 



80 EsCHATOLOGY. 

wlien he assumed sovereignty over kings and civil 
rulers. There is no fact of history better settled than 
this. Down to near the middle of the eighth century 
the popes laid no claim to civil supremacy. Pope 
Gregory II., A. D. 729, in his letter to the emperor Leo 
says : " The doctrines of the Church are in the hands of 
the bishops, not of the emperor ; as the prelates should 
abstain fro7n the affairs of State ^ so princes from those of 
the Churchy The sovereignty of the emperors down 
to this date, says Milman, " comprehended religious as 
well as temporal autocracy, and of this the clergy, 
though they had often resisted it, and virtually, per- 
haps, held it to be abrogated, had never formally, pub- 
licly, or deliberately declined the jurisdiction. But 
now the emperor Leo inaugurates the war upon images, 
and brings the imperial and papal power in direct and 
fierce collision. Hitherto the papacy had been sub- 
missive and loyal to the civil power, but in Gregory it 
came to an open issue and revolted. The emperor de- 
manded the destruction of images in all the churches, 
and Gregory, in retaliation, absolved their allegiance 
to the throne and their duty to support a heretical 
prince, and thus sounded the tocsin of civil war. This 
was late in his pontificate, A. D. 730, and led to the 
final extinction of the power of the emperors in Italy. 
It marks an epoch in the history of the papacy. Hence- 
forward a career of political ambition and usurpation 
opened before the boasted successors of St. Peter. 
Gregory appeals to the Franks for aid, and his negoti- 
ations are important indices of the times. " They 
mark," says Milman, " the transition from the old to 
tlie new political system of Europe. They proclaim 
the severance of all political connection with the East. 
The pope, as an independent potentate, is forming an 
alliance with a transalpine sovereign for the liberation 



The Period of Axticiirist. 81 

of Italy, and thus taking the lead in that total revolu- 
tion in the great social system of Europe, the influence 
of which still survives in the relations between the 
transalpine nations and Italy. The step to papal 
aggrandizement, though unpremeditated, is immense. 
Latin Christendom is forming into a separate realm, of 
which the pope is the head. ^'■Henceforth the pope, if not 
yet a temporal sovereign, is a temporal potentate.''^ * The 
events which followed during the next twenty-five years 
are spread out upon the pages of history, and it is not 
important to our argument to trace them in detail. 

Suffice it to say, that when the step had once been 
taken, the Rubicon once passed, the assumption of the 
extreme rights of the pope to annul the obligations of 
civil government once openly made, and the East and 
West in actual war upon the issue of papal against im- 
perial authority, it was neither in the temper of the 
pontificate nor in the possibilities of things to recede. 

Pending these events Pope Zacharias had the address 
to hold at bay for ten years the arms of the Lombards, 
and, without assuming the titlo, exercised the power 
and functions of a sovereign of Rome. Pepin, mayor 
of the palace, is crowned king of the Franks by Pope 
Zacharias, in opposition to the lawful claims of Chil- 
dcric, and the allegiance of the subjects was transferred 
from the rightful to the usurping sovereign. By this 
act it was asserted and conceded that the power of the 
pope was above that of the throne. The allegiance of 
the subject, therefore, became dependent on the will 
and sanction of the spiritual authority of the successors 
of St. Peter. France now became the leading mon- 
archy of Europe, and by her concurrent aid and power- 
ful patronage the foundations of the temporal power of 
antichrist were firmly settled. 

* Milman. 



82 ESCHATOLOGY. 

One only acquisition remained to j^erfect the usurpa- 
tions of tlic triple crown; namely, the cession of terri- 
torial jurisdiction. The pope must become king in fact 
and dignity, under whatever title this dignity may be 
expressed. The events which were to consummate this 
strange ambition were moving rapidly on. A few years 
later, under the pontificate of Stephen III., the arms of 
Pepin were again invoked. That prince is the second 
anointed king of the Franks, re-enters Italy, subjugates 
the Lombards, takes from them the ex-archate, and be- 
stows it upon the pope as his patrimony and kingdom 
forever.* 

This event dates A. D. 756. It is the date of the 
final dismemberment of Italy from the rule of the 
Eastern emperors ; the date of the intimate and perma- 
nent union of the Roman see with the French throne ; 
the date of TransaljDine interference with Italian poli- 
tics ; the date of the open assumption and admission of 
the power of the popes, as the successors of St, Peter 
and the vicegerents of God, to dissolve the bonds of 
civil government whenever and wherever government 
clashes with the plans and purposes of the Church ; the 
date of the temporal sovereignty of the bishop of Rome, 
and hence a new era both in the form and genius of the 
great apostasy ; the date when antichrist becomes not 
only a " harlot," the " mother of harlots," but the " lit- 
tle horn" and "beast" and "Babylon." Kot that 
even now antichrist had attained its largest growth of 
iniquity, or in its secular aspirations its greatest inso- 
lence of power, but that here and at this date it fairly 

* Tlie territoiy conquered and ceded to the Roman see compre- 
hended " Raveuna, Rummia, Pesaro, Faro, Sesena, Jesi, ForhnopoH, 
Torh, with the castle of Lussibeo, Montrefetro, Acerra, Monte di Lu- 
cano, Serra, San Marino, Urbino, Gagli, Luciolo, G-ubbio, Camachio, 
and Narni, which was severed from the dukedom of Spolcto." 



TllE PeKIOD of AXTICIIIIIST. 83 

puts oil that liistoric outgrowth and form which an- 
swer to the descriptions of prophecy and the intima- 
tions given of tlie date of the twelve hundred and sixty 
years. From this period tlie rivah-y between the miter 
and the crown openly raged, wherein the former, 
firmly seated in the superstitions of the masses, became 
tlienceforward ascendant. 

Charlemagne, in A. D. 773, made enlargements of the 
'•' holy see " by important additions of territory. Two 
liundred years afterward Pope Gregory VIII. completed 
the structure which was laid by Gregory II. and Ste- 
phen III. But it was in 75 G that we date the antichrist 
of prophecy, then, and not till then, fully corroborated 
and sustained by history. 

We shall not adduce other branches of the argument 
leading to the same conclusion, and will submit it upon 
the grounds herein already set forth. What, then, may 
we claim as proven ? 

1. The antichrist of the Apocalypse which struck the 
eye and engrossed tlie symbolism of prophecy was an 
arrogant, corrupt, persecuting, spiritual autocracy, the 
arch enemy and grand terror of the true saints, the 
leading obstacle to the advance and triumphs of the 
Gospel. 

2. This antichrist is clearly set forth as combining 
the distinct and heterogeneous characteristics of spirit- 
ual and political sovereignty. By the one it assumed 
to sway and decide the spiritual, and by the other the 
civil and temporal, destinies of mankind. It is an apos- 
tate Church, organized into a spiritual theocracy, and 
a political usurpation, corrupting the nations of the 
earth. 

3. This mammoth power, the terror of the saints and 
the scourge of the earth, is to continue twelve hundred 
and sixty natural or solar years. It is then to fall to 



84 E 



SCIIATOLOGY. 



rise no more. But as, from the nature of the subject 
as ah'eady shown, the event of its falling, as that of its 
rising, involves the revolutions of opinion and great 
moral changes of societ};^, and must, therefore, be more 
or less gradual, as all moral reformations are, it is not 
to be supposed that the power of antichrist will con- 
tinne in full force till the end of this period, and then 
fall in one solar day or year, but that it shall wane, and 
the triumphant cause of truth advance, till, at the end 
of the twelve hundred and sixty years from the date 
herein given, it will become an observable, recognizable, 
conceded fact of history, marke(^ by positive dates and 
facts in the constitutions and laws of nations, the 
changed and elevated tone and customs of society, and 
in the extension, acts, and attitude of the visible Church, 
that " Babylon is fallen," for " strong is the Lord God 
who judgeth her." " Rejoice over her, thou heaven, 
and ye holy apostles and prophets ; for God hath 
avenged you on her," 

4. That the date of this ]Deriod of twelve hundred 
and sixty years can be determined in no other way than 
by comparing the descriptions of prophecy as to the 
character, form, and aims of antichrist, and the pro- 
phetic intimations of the time of his appearance with 
the established facts of history; and just where, in the 
progress of history, the Church is clearly seen to have 
taken on this j^redicted form and character, just there 
we are to fix the date of the period in question. 

5. As the date of the prevalence and reign of anti- 
christ must, according to the principles here laid down, 
be fixed at A. D. 15Q, therefore the end of this period 
of his reign must be A. D. 756 added to 1260; equal 
to 2016, the year of the Christian era set by infinite 
wisdom for this long-pray ed-f or event. Amen and 
amen ! 



The Period of Antichrist. 85 

The year 2016 is not, liowever, given as an absolute 
date, but as a close approximation. Immediately after 
the fall of antichrist (and it will be recognized in its 
time), the antichristian nations and peoples will wait 
its catastrophe (Rev. xviii), and all in heaven will 
chant a '* hallelujah." Rev. xix, 1-8. Then follows 
the rapid spread of the Gospel (Rev. xix, 11-16), the 
binding of Satan (Rev. xx, 1-3) ; then the millennium, 
etc. Rev. xx, 4-6. The connection of the downfall of 
antichi'ist with the glorious triumph of King Messiah, 
is thus given by Daniel, chap, vii, 24-27 : " And another 
[king] shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse 
from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And 
he shall speak great Avords against the Most Pligh, 
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and 
think to change times and laws: and they shall be 
given into his hand until a time and times and the divid- 
ing of time [twelve hundred and sixty years.] But the 
judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his do- 
minion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And 
the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the 
kingdom, under the whole heaven, shall be given to 
the people of the saints of the Most High, whose king- 
dom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall 
serve and obey him." 



86 ESCHATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER YI. 

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET PERIOD. 

Yarious Separate and Independent Observations on the Seventh 
Trumpet, Embracing Chapters xi to xv inchisive — Regular 
Chronological Order Resumed at Chapter xvi. 

We have now reached the period of the Church's 
great apostasy, and of the conflicts and sufferings and 
final victory of the protesting^ suffering, and faithful 
few. In this new departure of the unfolding sclierae 
of ]jrophecy we find ourselves in the midst of new and 
fearful s^^mbolism, and geographically set hack in Eu- 
rope, especially in Italy, and most of all at Kome. This 
is made clear in Rev. xvii. 

The great idea of the tenth chapter of Revelation is 
the announcement that the persecuting power, which 
had been the terror of the true Church for centuries, 
should end in the seventh trumpet period. Thus verses 
1-1: "1 saw a mighty angel come down fj-om heaven, 
. . . and he had in his hand a little book open. . . . And 
the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the 
earth, . . . sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, 
who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and 
the sea, and the things that are therein, that the time 
shall not he yet / * but in the days of the voice of the 
seventh angel, when he shall sound, the mystery of God 
shall be finished." 

In proof of the correctness of this version it is im- 
mediately declared that " the mystery of God shall be 

*Seo note on p. 57, as vindicating this translation. 



The Seventh Tkumpet Period. 87 

ihiislied [not now] but in tlie clays of the voice of the 
seventh trumpet, Avhen he shall sound." 

It is further stated by the angel to John, in opposi- 
tion to the idea of the immediate closing of the epoch, 
'- Thou must prophecy again before many peoples, and 
n3,tions, and tongues, and kings." Yer. 11. This clearly 
implies a prolonged struggle of the Church in evangel- 
istic work. The taking of the "little book," or roll, 
out of the angel's hand and eating it, must be under- 
stood mentally as a figure for spiritually analyzing and 
digesting its contents. Thus Jer. xv, 16, ^' Thy words 
we found and I did eat them ;" so also Ezek. iii, 1-3; 
John vi, 52-63. The figure is not infrequent. The 
solemnity of the oath (vers. 5-7), indicates the awful 
import and certainty of the contents of the " little 
book." The purport and substance of the vision is 
comprehended in the brief words, " The mystery of 
God shall be finished in the days of the voice of the 
seventh angel;" that is, during the epoch of the seventh 
trumpet. Chap, xi, 15. The "mystery of God" is 
the mysterious dispensation in which " the long sufier- 
ing of the Lord" allows his enemies, and the enemies 
of the Church, to persecute and oppress the righteous. 
When this mystery shall be exj^lained the millennium 
will dawn upon the Avorlcl. 

The tenth chapter of Revelation, therefore, is a pie- 
lude to the seventh trumpet epoch, which in its time is 
to be resolved into seven vials of the w^rath of God. 
But before resuming the regular order of chronology, 
in the epochs of the phials, we are to explain, as 
far as we may be able, the intervening chapters, 
namely, chapters xi to xv, inclusive. These we shall 
treat, not as progressive chronological steps in the 
seventh trumpet period, but as so many independ- 
ent views given of the same period, and taken from 



88 ESCHATOLOGY. 

different stand-points; so that we shall find ourselves at 
the end of chapter xiv; chronologically where we began; 
namely, at the beginning of chapter xi. This is evi- 
dent from the fact that in five instances within the 
period now before us, the epocli of antichrist — twelve 
hundred and sixty years — is distinctly assumed in apoc- 
alyptic symbolism; namely, "forty and two months" 
(Rev. xi, 2); "a thousand two hundred and three- 
score days," (ver. 3; same in xii, 6); "a time, times, 
and half a time" (ver. 14); and again "forty and two 
months" (xiii, 5). After these two distinct events 
are to take place: the fall of Babylon (chap, xiv, 8) 
and the reaping of the " harvest " and the " vintage of 
the earth." Chap, xiv, 14-20. 

These are distinct occurrences within the seventh 
trumpet, or, which is the same, the seven vials, or the 
period of antichrist, and we shall endeavor to reach 
their meaning, but shall accept the regular successive 
order of events to lie with the seven vials. This is an 
important consideration, simply indispensable to a right 
understanding of tliese intervening chapters. 

Another fact should be considered. It is evident 
from the sense of the passage that the verses 14-19 
of chapter xi are out of place, and should be put 
at the opening of the chapter. Any practical Bible 
student will see it is better suited to the opening of 
chapter xi. As, therefore, it is a simple change of 
place in the same chapter, not in any way affecting the 
sense, but only its relative order, we venture to place it 
immediately after chapter x, at the opening of chapter xi. 

The reason for thus placing and treating chapters 
X to XV is, they are assigned to the same period in the 
text; namely, to the twelve hundred and sixty years of 
antichrist, which also is the period of the seventh 
trumpet, or the group of the vial epochs. 



The Seventh TnuMrET Period. 89 

These points will be treated in their places. 

We will first give the seventh trumpet in its order; 
then the four independent and separate views, given at 
different points of observation, each covering the twelve 
liundred and sixty years of antichrist, and then take 
up the group of vial epochs in succession. 

Tlie Seventh Trumpet Periodic thus opened: "The sec- 
ond woe is past; and, behold, the third cometh quickly. 
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great 
voices in heaven, saying. The kingdoms of this world 
are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; 
and he shall reign for ever and ever." Chap, xi, 14, 15. 
Thus the first object that struck the prophet's vision 
was the millennium. " The kingdoms of this world are 
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ." 
So also, twelve hundred and sixty years later, when 
antichrist w^as fallen, John saw the fulfillment of the 
promised millennium, and said: "I saw thrones, and 
they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto 
them." Rev. xx, 4. This was the outcome of the 
seventh trumpet epoch. The result of ages of suffer- 
ing and faithful waiting and watching he now saw 
in vision. On the opening of a scene which reached 
such a blissful result all heaven joined — saints and an- 
gels — in solemn and triumphant praise, saying, "We 
give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, because thou 
hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. 
And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, 
and the time of the dead [martyrs] that they should be 
judged [vindicated], and that thou shouldest give re- 
ward unto thy servants and the saints, and them that 
fear thy name, small and great; and destroy them that 
destroy the earth." Vers. 17, 18. To close the scene, 
and to assure the yet suffering saints of the faithful- 
ness of God, "the temple of God was opened in heaven, 



90 ESCHATOLOGY. 

and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testa- 
ment: and there were lightnings, and voices, and tliun- 
derings, and an earthquake, and great hail," to assure 
them that God is faithful, and is able to fulfill his word. 

1. The opening of the first vision is thus given : " And 
there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the an- 
gel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, 
and the altar, and them thnt worship therein. But the 
court which is without the temple leave out, and meas- 
ure it not ; for it is given unto the Gentiles : and the 
holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two 
months." Vers. 1, 2. 

The " temple of God, the altar, and them that wor- 
ship therein," represent the covenanted people, the true 
Church, or true worshipers of God. The court that 
was "without the temple," which he w^as to "leave 
out " and not measure, represents the uncovenanted 
people, the Gentiles, or nations not in covenant with 
God. The act of '' measuring " the temple is emblem- 
atic of absolute possession and protection. The act 
of leaving out and not measuring the court which is 
without and which is given to the Gentiles, is emblem- 
atic of repudiated title of covenant relation and rights. 
These spurious worshipers may occupy "the court that 
is without the temple," but their title to the covenant is 
invalid, " and the holy city shall they tread under foot ; " 
that is, they will treat the true worshipers with con- 
tempt and persecution, and will tread them under foot 
"forty and two months." 

This notation of time is important. It is used five 
times in the chapters we are now specially treating. 
In prophetic time a month is always put for thirty 
days, and a day for a year. "Forty and two months," 
therefore, are exactly twelve hundred and sixty solar 
days, or years. This is the well-known period of anti- 



The Seventh Trumpet Period. 91 

clirist. There is not a prophetic period in Holy Writ 
more clelinitely ascertained than this, as the progress of 
our inquiry will show. 

2. The second characteristic of this antichristian pe- 
riod is thus given: "And I will give power unto my 
two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two 
hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." 

The witnesses are those who testify to the true and 
pure standard of Christian doctrine and worship. " They 
shall prophesy;" that is, as nearly as the English can 
represent it, tJiey shcdl preach. The word is broad in its 
significance, comprehensive of announcement, teaching, 
testimony, exhortation — all that is needful to bring the 
Gospel to the understanding and conscience. These 
evangelists shall deliver their messages " clothed in 
sackcloth " — indicating suffering and persecution. The 
period of this peril and sorrow shall continue "a thou- 
sand two hundred and threescore days ; " that is, twelve 
hundred and sixty years, reckoning a day for a year, 
thirty days for a month, and twelve hundred and sixty 
days for twelve hundred and sixty years. This is ac- 
cording to the settled method of computing prophetic 
time. As to the " two witnesses," the reason of there 
being two does not appear certain. The most probable 
one is that which considers it an allusion to the lowest 
competent number, in courts of law, to establish con- 
viction or sustain a cause. Thus, Deut. xvii, 6 : "At the 
mouth of tM'o witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that 
is worthy of death be put to de;ith." So also 1 Tim. v, 
10 : "Against an elder receive not an accusation, but be- 
fore two or three witnesses." Again, Ileb. x, 28: "He 
that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two 
or three witnesses." Thus, under the persecutions, and the 
horrible sacrifice of human life, the two witnesses bore 
their testimony for the pure and unadulterated Gospel 



92 ESCHATOLOGY. 

of Christ. Can any one who has ever read the bloody 
pages of Christian martyrology doubt that this is a true 
and faithful record of the true Church for a thousand 
years, from the eighth to the eighteenth centuries? 
The history of the Waldenses and Albigenses, and their 
successors, the Protestants — not to mention the strug- 
gles against the Saracens and Turlis— present a horrid 
picture of the struggles of the Church for purity, the 
like of which tlie world has never seen. What is yet 
to come, in order that " the mystery of God shall be fin- 
ished," (chap. X, 7) only God can tell, in prophecies yet 
to be fulfilled. The "two witnesses," therefore, Ave 
take as the lowest number of witnesses to sustain a 
cause. 

The two witnesses are called, in Averse 4, '*the two 
olive-trees and the two candlesticks " — a clear reference 
to Zech. iv. In turning to the place, we learn this to 
be the idea of the symbol; namely, that as the great 
lamp in Solomon's temple needed frequent replenish- 
ment of oil, and the supply became perpetual, in the 
vision, only by the two olive-trees standing on either 
side of the chandelier and pouring out a perpetual stream 
as from living fountains, so God would make the hum- 
ble and apparently inadequate labor of the people to 
be the miglity means of perpetual light, and of accom- 
plishing his great purpose. The doctrine, aside from 
the vision, is given in verse 6 : " Not by might, nor by 
powei-, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." In 
returning to Rev. xi, Ave accept the fifth verse as a 
Avarning of certain judgment on the persecutor. The 
certainty of punishment is a fundamental element of 
sound government and a great deterrent of sin. In 
verse 16 the strength of faith of the martyrs — of them 
that keep the Avord of God under persecution — is de- 
clared equal to those mighty men of old Avho Avrought 



The Seventh Tkumpet Period, 93 

iniraclcs — like Elijah, who had power to "sliut heaven, 
that it rain not" (1 Kings xvii, 1; Jas. v, 17, 18) ; or 
Moses, who could " turn water to blood." Exod. vii, 17. 
See also Jer. i, 9, 10 ; Hos. vi, 5. Thus the dignity of 
a faithful martyr, however despised by men, does, in 
the estimation of God, rank the highest honor of the 
kingdom. 

In verse 7 the occurrence of the word "heast,^^ the 
same "that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, and 
shall make war against the witnesses " of Christ, fully 
identifies the actor as antichrist, and the period of 
his operations to be the same as the technical twelve 
hundred and sixty years. For a time this great enemy 
of the Church shall prevail against the witnesses of 
Jesus, "and shall overcome them and kill tliem," and 
the corrupt sympathizers with antichrist, or the " beast," 
shall take knowledge of them that they are truly over- 
come and killed, at which the enemies of Christ will 
have great rejoicing. Vers. 7-10. But their triumph 
Avill be short. After " three days and a half" (ver. 11) 
"the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they 
stood upon their feet." This sudden return to life of 
the victorious witnesses caused great surprise and fear, 
for not only did the faithful witnesses re-appear on 
earth, but now it appeared plain and public that they 
assuredly went to heaven, a fact that had been disputed 
and denied by their persecutors. And not only did the 
witnesses or martyrs of Jesus gain heaven, but the judg- 
ment of God against the persecutors was made public to 
the nations, for "the same hour was there a great earth- 
quake, and the tenth part of the city fell," and much 
life w^as lost, so that the remnant of the wicked people 
were forced to honor God by confessing that the wit- 
nesses of Jesus and their testimony were of God. 
Ver. 12. Tliis appears to us to be substantively the 



94 ESCHATOLOGY. 

sense of the symbolic text. Vers. 3-13. It is worthy 
of remark that when the armies of the pope and the 
fires and tortures of the Inquisition had nearly extin- 
guished the Albigenses and Waldenses in France, and 
scattered the distressed remnants into other parts of 
Euro|)e — when the members of the true Church were 
called the " remnant of her seed " — when every thing 
seemed quiet, every heresy put down, and the Christian 
world acquiesced in the absurdity and blasphemy of the 
papal usurper — suddenly Martin Luther appeared, the 
witnesses of Jesus quickly multiplied, and in the result 
a large part of the papal nations — England, Scotland, 
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany 
— renounced papacy and accepted tlie Protestant faith. 
Thus "the tenth part of the [Sodomitish] city fell." 
Yers. 8, 13. 

III. We find the tldrd independent glance at the 
characteristic traits of antic! irist in the twelfth chapter 
of the Apocalypse. The symbols are bold, animated, 
sometimes obscured, yet startling and new. It is not 
easy to be always sure of doing justice to the style, or 
to the exposition of its metaphors, yet we apprehend the 
general and material parts lie open to view. The first 
startling figure which appears in the scene is given 
in verse 1 : " And there appeared a great wonder in 
heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon 
under her feet, and upon her head twelve stars." 
Ver. 1. 

That this " woman " represents the Church or living 
witnesses is evident from tlie references to her in the fur- 
ther unfolding of the drama. Thus, in Averse 6, it is said, 
" The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a 
place prepared for her of God ; " and in verse 14 : " And 
to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, 
that she might fly into the wilderness." And in verse 17 : 



The Seventh Trumpet Period. 95 

" And the dragon was wroth witli tlie woman, and went 
to make war with the remnant of her seed ; " and this 
" remnant of her seed " is specifically called " them which 
keep the commandments of God, and have the testi- 
mony of Jesus Christ." This is not the only place 
where the Church is thus symbolized. In Rev. xix, 7-9, 
the Church is called the "wife "of Christ, and their 
" marriage " is an occasion of great rejoicing ; and in 
chapter xxi, 2: "John saw the holy city, new Jerusa- 
lem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared 
as a bride adorned for her husband ; " and in verse 9 
the Church is called "the bride, the Lamb's wife." 
See also 2 Cor. xi, 2 ; Isa. liv, 6, and Ixii, 4, 5. 

This woman appears in glory with the emblems of 
victory and purity ; " clothed with the sun, and the 
moon was under her feet." The stars in her crown not 
only indicated royalty, but tlie number " twelve " is the 
sacred number of completeness and covenant union both 
in the Old and New Testaments. This fully identifies 
the symbol of the twelve as the Church of Christ. 
The "travailing in birth," etc., must be understood as 
expressive of the difiiculty and peril of making new con- 
verts to Christ, when to make the profession of Christ is 
certain death and torture. Verses 3 and 4 present the 
persecuting power as a "great red dragon having seven 
Leads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head." 
This is clearly defined as a Roman, anticliristian, perse- 
cuting power, the terror of all true saints, as has been 
stated in Chapter vi of this work, and shall be noticed 
again hereafter. There is no symbolic character in the 
Apocalypse better ascertained than is this Roman dragon 
and beast. The tail of this dragon " drew the third part 
of the stars of heaven." "Stars" represent subordi- 
nate rulers, while "heaven" is a symbol of imperial or 
supreme dominion. The supreme dragon-power drew 



96 ESCHATOLOGY. 

after him, in abject submission, the third of the govern- 
ments of the world, " and cast them to the earth " in con- 
temptuous scorn. His " tail drawing the third part of 
the stars," etc., gives a shading of degradation and autoc- 
racy which fitly illustrates the relation of the hierarchy 
to the crowned heads of Europe in the Middle Ages. 
See Deut. xxviii, 13 ; Tsa. ix, 14, 15; xix, 15. 

The woman, as we have said, is the Church. Yers. 
]-6. She was performing her high-priest functions as 
the Church of Christ, in j^ain and peril, as women in 
travail. Verse 5 is a retrospective glance of Christ's 
birth as being in fhe jaws of death, in the midst of 
world-wide opposers, "the dragon standing before the 
woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour 
her child as soon as it was born." Yer. 4. The "man 
child" which was born "was to rule all [rebellious] 
nations with a rod of iron," but was himself in peril, 
being in a world of hostility, and protected only by the 
absolute interposition and pawer of God, so that, as it 
were, " he was caught up unto God, and to his throne " 
(vers. 4, 5) ; that is, ascended to the supremest power 
of earthly monarchs, so that for a time his attention 
was drawn off from persecution of the saints. At this 
opportune exigency "the Avoman fled into the wilder- 
ness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they 
should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three- 
score days," or yearsr— that being the twelve hundred 
and sixty years of antichrist. 

The "ruling of nations with a rod of iron " is affirmed 
and predicted only of Christ ; and of him only as he 
shall treat rebellious subjects who " take counsel together 
against Jehovah, and against his Messiah." Psa. ii, 2. 
The Second Psalm and Rev. ii, 27 fully sustain the 
application of it here. Dean Alford says the language 
employed "leaves no possibility of doubt who was 



The Sevexth Trumpet Period. 97 

here intended. The 'man child' (ver. 5) is the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and none otherP 

The wonderful "war in heaven," described in verses 
7-9, must be understood as the struggle of the Church 
against antichrist, who was now swaying dominion over 
supreme governments, especially in Europe. The bat- 
tles are represented as fought first in the chief govern- 
ments, or powers. These are formidable and cruel, as 
in Isa. xiv, 13, 14. When the patronage of these could 
no longer be relied on, the dragon intensified his wrath 
upon the defenseless remnant. Thus the record says : 
" And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the 
earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth 
the man child." Yei'. 13. And that the supporters of 
the dragon j^ower shall, in the end, turn and hate and 
fight against him, is clearly declared, with some change 
of symbolism, in Rev. xvii, 16, 17: "And the ten horns 
which ihou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the 
whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and 
shall eat her flesh, and burn her Avith fire. For God 
hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, 
and give their kingdom unto the boast, until the words of 
God shall be fulfilled." We shall return to this inter- 
pretation when Ave come to consider tlie seventeenth 
chapter, of Avliich tliis is a literal comment. 

In the apocalyptic order an interlude is given in the 
special form of chant, recognizing the moral forces 
hitherto employed by the Avitnessing Church, with an 
outlook upon the ultimate triumph: "And they over- 
came him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Avord 
of their testimony ; and they loved not their lives unto 
the death." Vers. 10-12. After this the prophetic 
record is resumed. Vers. 13-17. 

The "wings of a great eagle," giA^en to the Avoman, 
are mentioned here simply as a symbol of strengtli, 



98 ESCHATOLOGY. 

victory, and rapid passage. Exod. xix, 4 ; Deut. xxviii, 
49, and xxxii, 11, 12 ; Jer. xlviii, 40 ; Hos. viii, 1. The 
feeble Churcli flies before the dragon and beast. Tlie 
Old Testament is familiar also with the figure of 
the rapid overflow of watei-s, inundating and desolating 
the land, illustrating the sudden invasion of a conquer- 
ing and pillaging army. Dan. ix, 26, and xi, 10, 26; 
Isa. viii, 7, 8. And '^the earth" (ver. 16), wdiicli 
*' helped the woman," and " opened her mouth and swal- 
lowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his 
mouth," may represent the friendly people and prov- 
inces and nations that received the fugitives and re- 
pelled the dragon. All this literally illustrates the 
history of the Waldenses and Albigenses, who for five 
hundred years fought the papacy at the peril and cost 
of life to millions. Through all this sanguinary period 
" the dragon went to make war with the remnant of 
her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and 
have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Verse 17. On 
this line, and for a pure Gospel, the witnessing Church, 
from age to age, and from country to country, with 
spiritual arms and armies, have fought for " freedom to 
worship God " according to the Gospel. 

In verse 16, the word "earth" is again used (pleon- 
astically from verse 9) as helping the persecuted 
woman (the "Church"), and is here put in contrast 
with "heaven," from which, after a long conflict, the 
" dragon " had been cast out unto the earth. If Jieaven 
denotes, in symbolic language, supreme governing 
power, which will not be denied, the earth must mean 
the opposite. Nothing less could sustain the antithe- 
sis. We must, therefore, consider it to signify the 
common uncovenanted people with their subordinate 
rulers. This distinguishes from "heaven " the syuibol 
of supreme rank and government. 



The Seventh Trumpet Period. 99 

The term of continuance of these visions is the same 
as is eveiy-where given, both by John and by Daniel, 
to be twelve hundred and sixty years; or, if reckoned 
in symbolic or prophetic time, " for a time, times, and 
half a time." 

IV. The fourth prophetic glance at the epocJis of anti- 
christ is contained in the thirteenth chapter of the 
Apocalypse. The apostle says: " I stood upon the sand 
of the sea, and saw a beast rise out of the sea, having 
seven heads and ten horns." That is, "a new domin- 
ion, or government, wliicli should owe its origin to the 
commotions of the j^eople;"* the "sea" being the 
symbol of nations in the commotion of war, as in 
Psa. Ixv, 7. 

" Which stilleth the noise of the seas 
The noise of tlieir waves, 
And the tumult of the peopled 

Yitringa says: "The world iv it hout the Church comes 
under tlie name of sea^ as being in continual commo- 
tion, as incapable of cultivation, as the seat of storms 
and tempests, and xlangerous to navigate. Hence the 
wicked are compared to it in Isa. Ivii, 20." 

It is a notable fact that the antichristian " beast," or 
papacy, did arise out of the civil commotions and revo- 
lutions of Europe, and could not have acquired its 
amazing power had the Roman Empire stood united as 
in the reign of Augustus, or even of Constantine, three 
hundred years later. 

In verse 2 the greediness of the " bear," the swift- 
ness of the " leopard," and the strength of the " lion " 
are descriptive of this new 2:)olitical and ecclesiastical 
power. John says (ver. 3): "And I saw one of his 
heads [or forms of government] as it were wounded to 
* Lowman. 



] 00 ESCHATOLOGY. 

death ; and liis deadly wound was healed : and all the 
world wondered after the beast." The Romish " head," 
or "beast," is the same as is described chapter xvii, 11, 
of whom it is said, " the beast that was, and is not, even 
he is the eighth," etc. The beast that "was, and is 
not," is the same as that which was, " as it were wounded 
to death, and his deadly wound was healed." 

There is no power or form of government within the 
Roman domain that so aptly applies to all the con- 
ditions as the history of the Lombards in their relation 
of war to the papacy. It will be considered that the 
prophetical record does not state that one of the heads 
of the beast was wounded unto death, but that one of 
his heads was, " as it were (w^*) wounded to death ; and 
his deadly wound was healed." The Avound was only 
seemingly fatal. 

It was in the year A. D. 726 that the war between 
the Eastern emperor Leo and Pope Gregory II. at 
Rom.e, on the use of images, began. Politics entered 
into the causes of the war. " Between the papal see and 
the Lombard sovereigns — indeed, between the Lombards 
and the Italian clergy — there seems almost from the first 
to last to have prevailed an implacable and inexplicable 
antipathy. Of all the conquerors of Italy, these (ac- 
cording to more favorable historians) orderly and 
peaceful people are represented as the most irreclaim- 
ably savage. The taint of their original Arianism was 
indelible. ISTo terms are too strong with the popes to 
express their detestation of the Lombards." In the 
sixth century they had passed the Alps, and invaded 
Northern Italy. While other invading barbarians had 
more or less softened the rugged features of their for- 
mer lives by contact with Roman life and habits, the 
Lombards obstinately remained in their ancestral rude- 
ness. Their religion was Arianism, which they had 



The Seventh Tkumpet Period. 101 

partially embraced, "but had in no degree mitigated 
the ferocity of their manners. Tliey had no awe of 
religious men, no reverence for religious places; they 
burned churches, laid waste monasteries, slew ecclesias- 
tics, and violated consecrated virgins with no more 
dread or remorse than ordinary buildings or profane 
enemies. So j^i'ofound was the terror of the Lombard 
invasion that the despairing Italians, even the highest 
ecclesiastics, beheld it as an undoubted sign of the 
coming day of judgment." * 

Thirty years of distress, in open w^ar or faithless ne- 
gotiations, followed, till in A. D. To 5 we find Astolph, 
the Lombard king, settled down before Rome in regu- 
lar siege. To avoid this, Pope Stephen 11. had appealed 
to Pepin, King of France, and to Emperor Leo at Con- 
stantinople, saying to the latter that " without an army 
to back the imperial demands, all was lost.''^ But As- 
tolph pressed the siege. " Not all the litanies, not all the 
solemn processions to the most revered altars of the city, 
in which the pope himself, with naked feet, bore the 
cross, and the whole people followed with ashes on 
their heads, and with a wild howl of agony implored 
the protection of God against the blaspheming Lom- 
bards, arrested for an instant his progress." f 

From Leo there was no hope of help. The war 
against the images had alienated the Byzantine em- 
peror from the pope too deeply. All hope rested on 
Pepin, to whom, and his predecessors, he was so deeply 
indebted. 

Three letters were dispatched in quick succession. 
The pope himself goes in depth of winter to enlist the 
powerful king of France against the Lombards. All 
depends now on the timely help of Pepin. The letters 
betray an agony of distress, urging instant help by all 
* Milman. f Ibid. 



] 02 ESCKATOLOGY. 

tlie f^aints in heaven and by his own eternal salvation. 
Gregory's third letter declares it to be direct from 
heaven, written by St. Peter himself. In it he says: 
"I, Peter the apostle, protest, admonish, and conjure 
you, the most Christian kings, Peter, Charles, andCar- 
loman, with all the hierarchy, bishops, abbots, priests, 
and all monks; all judges, dukes, counts, and the whole 
people of the Franks. The mother of God likewise 
adjures you, and admonishes and commands you, she as 
well as the thrones and dominions, and all the host of 
heaven, to save the beloved city of Rome from the de- 
tested Lom.bards. If ye hasten, I, Peter the apostle, 
promise you my protection in this life, and in the next 
will prepare for you the most glorious mansions in 
heaven, and Avill bestow on you the everlasting joys of 
paradise. Make common cause with my people of 
Rome and I will grant whatever ye may pray for. I 
conjure you not to yield up this city to be lacerated 
and tormented by the Lombards, lest your own souls be 
lacerated and tormented in hell, with the devil and his 
pestilential angels. Of all nations under heaven the 
Franks are highest in the esteem of St. Peter; to me 
you owe all your victories. Obey, and obey speedily, 
and, by my suffrage, our Lord Jesus Christ will give 
you in this life length of days, security, victory; in the 
life to come will multi[)ly his blessing upon you, among 
his saints and angels." 

It need not be said that the compliant Pepin came, 
the enemy submitted, and the provinces which consti- 
tuted the ex-archate were now given to the papacy as 
the " patrimony of St. Peter." Thus one of the heads 
of the beast (one of the foi-ms of government of the 
beast, namely, the papacy) was, " as it loere [seemingly] 
wounded unto death; and his deadly wound was healed." 
Not that one of the popes was dead, or near to death, 



The Seventh Trumpet Period. 103 

and was liealed, but one of the forms of government 
which the popes represented — the papacy — was near to 
extinction and was lestored. We cannot assert what 
would or might have been had Pepin declined the ur- 
gent call of Stephen; but, in all human probability, and 
judging from the light of all existing facts, if the pope 
had failed to elicit the interference of Pepin the papacy 
would have been a totally different power from Avhat it 
was and what it aspired to be, and Italy would have 
been a Lombard empire, and the pope and bishops the 
degraded vassals of one of the most barbarian princes 
of Europe. Indeed, this is implied in the references 
given in the connection in this vision. It is implied that 
had the " deadly wound " not been healed great and 
wonderful changes would have followed, disastrous to 
the followers of the " beast," or form of government. 
"All the world wondered after the beast," at the heal- 
ing of the "head," or form of government. It seemed 
like a literal resurrection, and the healing of the head 
gave him great and sudden influence over the nations — 
" And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, 
whose names are not written in the book of life of the 
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Ver. 8. 
''And it was given unto him to make Avar with tlie 
saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him 
over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." Ver 7. 

In continuance of the vision a new scene is intro- 
duced. John says : "And I beheld another beast com- 
ing up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a 
lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all 
the power of the first beast before him, and causcth the 
earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first 
beast, whose deadly wound was healed," etc. Rev\ xiii, 
11-13. 

The fact that this new power is called a "beast " fixes 



104 ESCHATOLOGY. 

his antichristian date and character. His " coming up 
out of the earth " denotes his ignoble origin, earth-born, 
grounded in the popular superstitions, not in " the wis- 
dom that is from above." His "two horns like a 
lamb " was his profession of lamb-like meekness and in- 
nocence, such as any impostor might assume. " He 
spake as a dragon;" his real character betrays him 
when his doctrine and mission are announced. *'He 
exerciseth all the powers of the first beast before him, 
and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein 
to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was 
healed ; " that is, the object of his organization and in- 
Yestiture of power is for the unity, regularity, and final 
determination of the true doctrine and worship, accord- 
ing to the standard of " the first beast," " saying to them 
that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image 
to the beast which had the wound by the sword and did 
live," as mentioned in verse 3. And for the accom- 
plishment of his mission "he exerciseth all the power 
of the first beast before him," which is delegated to 
him for this purpose. 

In verse 15 is given the characteristic function of his 
mission; namely, that "he had power to give life unto 
the image of the beast, that tlie image of the beast 
should both speak and cause that as many as wo aid not 
worship the image of the beast should be killed.''^ And, 
to make this oftice more effectual, another distinguishing 
feature of this antichristian character is given, which is, 
" that no man should buy or sell, save he that had the 
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his 
name;" "and he causeth all, both small and great, rich 
and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their 
right hand, or in their foreheads." In verse 15 the 
non-conformist is to be killed; inverses 16, IV, he is 
doomed to starvation. In chapter xiv, 9, 10, the issue is 



The Seventh Trumpet Period. 1C5 

accepted by the martyrs and published by the angel: 
^- If any man worship the beast and his image, and re- 
ceive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same 
shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is 
poured out without mixture into the cup of his ind'g- 
nation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brim- 
stone in the presence of the holy angels and in the 
presence of the Lamb." 

In chapter xiii, 18, there is given, partly in mystic form 
and partly in common reckoning, a gbmce at the date 
of antichrist. Jolin says: " Here is wisdom. Let him 
tliat hath understanding count the number of the beast: 
for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six 
hundred threescore and six." The phrase, "It is the 
number of a man" would simply import that the reck- 
oning is to be in common, not in mystic or sj'-mbolic, nu- 
merals. We t'ftke this number of 660 to measure the 
time from the date of utterance by the apostle to the 
terminus of 666 natural years therefrom. John the 
apostle was, according to the best authority, in Patmos 
at the close of the reign of the emperor Domitian, 
A. D. 96. At this date he was liberated and returned 
to Ephesus. At this date his visions ended. If, now, 
Ave add to this date the number of 666, the date of 
John's writing, we have the sum of 762, making six 
years more than the date of antichrist, as we have else- 
where given. But this difference is not sufticient to set 
aside the argument. As Mr. Lowman (whom we 
mainly follow here) has well said, "This small differ- 
ence will be easily accounted for, cither by allowing 
some small uncertainty as to the time of vision, or some 
small variation from the precise year, for the sake of 
making the number of just 666, which has more of the 
air of a prophetical number than 662. Possibly this 
number may reach four years beyond the investiture, 
8 



106 ESCHATOLOGY. 

to take in the full and actual possession of what was 
granted to the Church as St. Peter's patrimony. 
This way of counting is sufficiently certain to deter- 
mine who the beast is, as it points out the time when 
he was to receive his power with such certainty that it 
cannot be mistaken; with as much certainty as Daniel's 
weeks pointed out the time of the coming of the Mes- 
siah." It should also be considered that in prophetic 
times the object is not so much to give exact solar dates 
as to identify characteristic epochs, and the traceable 
order and succession of events, according to their influ- 
ence on the Church and society. 

In the fifth verse of the chapter now before us the 
well-known prophetic indication of the period of anti- 
christ is given. John says: "And j)ower was given 
unto him [the beast] to continue forty and two months?'* 
A month, in prophetic time, is thirty days, and forty-two 
months would be twelve hundred and sixty days, and 
counting a day for a year we have twelve hundred and 
sixty years — every-where put down as the period of 
antichrist. This period of the three beasts in chapter 
xiii is properly considered as having a co-ordinate and 
yet subordinate life with the first. 

To return now to the consideration of the " third 
beast" (vers. 11-17), the questions arise. What is the 
j)urport of his mission as given in prophecy ? and, What 
is its historic interpretation? In answer to the first 
question we say, in general terms, the language describes 
a power delegated by the first beast and wholly devoted 
to him; a power invested with supreme authority, and 
for specific ends; a power supeiior to law, wholly irre- 
sponsible to civil government, or to laws Avhich embrace 
the rights of religious worship; and finally, authority 
" to kill as many as would not worship the image of the 
first beast." We search in vain to find such a power in 



The Seventh Teumpet Period. 107 

history, except in tlie Inquisition, blasphemously called 
"holy office." 

"Inquisition is the name given to a tribunal of the 
Roman Catholic Church whose function is to seek out 
and punish heretics and unbelievers." 

From apostolic times the Church has exercised dis- 
ciplinary authorit}^, and the right of excommunication 
for immoralities and fundamental error. But late in 
the fourth century (382) we find the first example of 
inflicting the death penalty for simplv religious causes. 

In the eighth century it received a firmer organization, 
and in the twelfth century it became a general institution 
of the Christian or Roman Catholic Church. The Inqui- 
sition is based on the assumption that as tlie Church is a 
theocracy, and as the pope is God's vicegerent, so all error 
or dissent is of the nature of treason, and, if persisted in, 
is punishable by death. It is, therefore, inferred as a 
j^rimary duty of the popes to use all means to suppress 
and punish all deviations from the standard of faith as 
established by them. And this standard of faith is not 
based upon the language of holy Scripture interpreted 
according to the laws of language, but upon the inter- 
pretations of the Christian fathers, especially of the first 
four centuries, the books of the Apocrypha, the decis- 
ions of councils and synods, and the voice and sanction of 
the popes. These are held as of equal authority in the 
interpretation of Scripture. But the bishop of Rome is 
held to express and contain the fountain of all spiritual 
authority. " The modern theory of Roman theologians is 
that all spiritual authority Avhatever flows from the fount- 
ain of the see of Rome, the pope being universal bishop, 
and other bishops having no true jurisdiction unless they 
receive it mediately or immediately from him."* 

*Blunt's Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology. Art. 
" Spiritual Jurisdiction." 



108 ESCHATOLOGY. 

The animus of all inquisitorial proceedings is given 
in the record of the code of inquisition of Toulouse, 
A. D. 1232.* "The court sat in profound secrecy; no 
advocate might appear before the tribunal; no witness 
was confronted with the accused ; who were the in- 
formers, what the charges, except the vague charge of 
heresy, no one knew. The suspected heretic was first 
summoned to declare, on oath, that he would speak the 
truth, the whole truth, of all persons whatsoever, living 
or dead, with iiimself or like himself under suspicion of 
heresy or Yaudism. If he refused he was cast into a 
dungeon — a dungeon the darkest in those dreary ages — 
the most dismal, the most foul, tlie most noisome. No 
falsehood was too false, no craft too crafty, no trick too 
base, for this calm, systematic moral torture, which was 
to wring further confession against himself, denuncia- 
tion against others. If the rack, tlie pulleys, the thumb- 
screw, and tlie boots, if not yet invented or applied, it 
w:\snot in mercy. It was the deliberate object to break 
the spirit. The prisoner was told that there were wit- 
nesses, undeniable witnesses, against him; if convicted 
by such witnesses his death was inevitable. In the 
meantime his food was to be slowly, gradu.-dly dimin- 
ished, till body and soul were prostrate. He v/as then 
to be left in darkness, solitude, silence. Then are to 
come one or two of the faithful, dexterous men, who 
are to speak in gentle words of interest and sympathy. 
'Fear not to confess that you have had dealings with 
those men, the teachers of heresy, because they seemed 
to you men of holiness and virtue ; wiser than you have 
been deceived.' These dexterous men were to speak of 
the Bible, the gospels, of the epistles of St. Paul, to talk 
the -very language, the Scripture language, of the here- 
tics. ' These foxes,' it was said, ' can be unearthed only 
* Milman, vol. vi, pp. 32, 33. 



The Seventh Trumpet Period. 109 

by fox-like cunning.' But if all tliis art failed, or did 
not jjerfectly succeed, then came terror and the goading 
to despair. 'Die you must — betliink you of your soul.' 
Upon which, if the desperate man said ' If I must die, 
I will die in the true faith of the Gospel,' he had made 
his confession; justice claimed the victim." "Noth- 
ing that the sternest or most passionate historian has 
revealed, nothing that the most impressive romance- 
writer could have imagined, can surpass the cold, sys- 
tematic treachery and cruelty of these so-called judicial 
formularies." 

Tlie first characteristic trait of this third beast, which 
we now notice, is the plenary power which he exerciseth 
over all the earth. " He exerciseth all the power of the 
first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them 
that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose 
deadly wound was healed." It is familiarly known that 
the popes invested the inquisitors with unlimited power 
for exterminating all heresy, so called ; that is, all dis- 
sent from the popes. The forces of civil power, even 
to levying troops, Avere put in their hands. 

To impress the mind with the terrors of death by 
starvation, it is directly announced tliat " all, both 
small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, shall 
receive a mark in their right hand, or in their fore- 
heads ; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that 
had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number 
of his name." Vers. 16-17. And again, the third beast 
"had power to give life unto the image of the [first] 
beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, 
and cause that as many as loould not worship the image 
of the heast should he killed.^^ Yer. 15. 

Thus the death penalty is made sure, either by direct 
execution, or by starvation, or by torture. In various 
forms and in different parts of Europe the dissenting 



110 EsCHATOLOGY. 

Christians had been jDersecuted and pursued, which 
forced them to retire to the more remote j^arts in 
Northern Italy and Southern France. In 1216 Domi- 
nic was created " inquisitor-general," with plenary 
power to use all ecclesiastic and civil authority to ex- 
terminate heretics. He says himself as to his future 
plan and purpose : " If the spiritual and ecclesiastical 
arms were not sufficient for this end, it was his fixed 
determination to call in the aid of the civil magistrate 
to excite and compel the Catholic j^i'inces to take arms 
against heretics, tliat the very memory of them might 
be entirely destroyed." 

In 1163 a synod was convened at Tours, a city in 
France, at which all the bishops and priests in the 
country of Toulouse were strictly enjoined " to take 
care and to forbid, under pain of excommunication, 
every person from presuming to give reception or the 
least assistance to the followers of tliis heresy; to have 
no dealinrjs vnth them in buying and selli))g, that thus 
being deprived of the common necessaries of life they 
'might be compelled to repent of the evil of their w^ay." 
And further, that " whosoever should dare to contra- 
vene this order should be excommunicated as a partner 
in their guilt." And, lastly, that " as many of them 
as could bo found should be imprisoned by the Catho- 
lic princes, and punished with the forfeiture of all their 
substance." 

If we may place any reliance upon writers of unim- 
peachable veracity, " the armies employed by Pope In- 
nocent III. destroyed above two hundred thousand of 
them in the short space of a f ew^ months." As the armies 
of the popes enlisted only for a brief period, new^ levies 
must be made. Immediately upon the call a new army 
is enlisted of more than one hundred thousand men, 
who stormed and sacked the city of Bieziers, and in- 



The Seventh Trumpet Period. Ill 

discriininately massacred twenty-three thousand men 
and women, Albigenses and Catholics. When it was 
asked if Catholics were to be protected and heretics 
only slain, the answer was, " Kill them all ; the Lord 
knoweth tliem that are his." 

" As to the ordinary manner of proceeding with such 
as fell into their hands captives of war, a single extract 
from Limborch's history may suffice to show. A per- 
son of the name of Robert, he says (1207), who had 
been of the sect of the Albigenses, but afterward joined 
the Dominicans, supported by the authority of the 
princes and magistrates, burned all who persisted in 
their heresy. AYithin two months he caused fifty, with- 
out distinction of sex, either to be burned or buried alive, 
whence he was called * the Hammer of the Heretics.' In 
1211 they took the city of Alb)^, and there put numbers 
to death. They took La Vaur by storm, and burned in 
it multitudes of the Albigenses. They hanged Almeric, 
the governor of that city, who was of a very noble 
family, and beheaded eighty of the inferior rank, not 
sparing the females. They threw the sister of Almeric, 
who was the principal lady of the sect of the Albigen- 
ses, into a well, and covered her with stones. After- 
ward they conquered Carcum, and put sixty men to 
death. They seized on Pulchra Vallis, a large city near 
Toulouse, committed four hundred Albigenses to the 
flames, and hanged fifty more." Again, "After the 
capture of La Yaur, the towns Les Cures, Robastains, 
Giiiller, St. Marcel, St. Anthonia, Causec, and Moisac 
were stormed, and a great massacre made of the towns- 
men by the conquerors. The castle of Perre, in the 
Agenois, having, after a long siege, capitulated, seventy 
of the soldiers were hanged, and the others who adhered 
to their errors were burned alive. In Paris itself four- 
teen, who were of the teachers among the Albigenses, 



112 ESCHATOLOGY. 

expired in the flames. The havoc was so great that 
in 1228 three archbishops found it necessary to in- 
tercede with the monks of the Inquisition to defer a 
little their work of imprisonment until the pope could 
be apprised of the immense numbers apprehended — 
numbers so great that it was impossible to defray the 
charge of their subsistence, or even to provide stone 
and mortar to build prisons for them.* 

It has been computed that, in the southern prov- 
inces of France, and within the first twenty years of 
the thirteentli century, a million of persons bearing 
tlie name of Albigenses were put to death for their 
religion. 

In Spain and Portugal the atrocious spirit of the 
Inquisition has been fully developed and attested. 
Since the latter part of the thirteenth century its deadly 
influence upon their civilization and religion has caused 
them to lose their rank among the nations. 

The inquisitorial persecutions continued, with variable 
success, in most of the kingdoms of Europe for three 
hundred and fifty years, and in its abated form till the 
present century. It does not seem necessary to refer 
further to the Inquisition, as it will be presented more 
fully in a future chapter ; nor could we have said less 
in justice to the argument. Volumes might be given 
in proof of the fact that the Inquisition of the Romish 
Church, in its blasphemy, its hypocrisy, its cruelty, and 
its historic relations, sustains the hypothesis that it is 
the third "beast," described in Rev. xiii, 11-18. His 
" lamb-like " profession, and his " dragon-like " ferocity 
(ver. 11) ; his investment of plenary power for the 
extermination of the so-called heretics, point unmistak- 

* See Jones's I/isiory of the Church, with special reference to the 
"Waldenses and Albigenses, Third American from the dftli London 
edition. 



The Seventh Trumpet Period. 113 

ably to the recognizable characteristics of the " man 
of sin. " 

5. We now come to consider the import of chapters 
xiv and xv. In chapter xiv, 1-5, the type of gospel 
martyrs is defined, and a song of victory given. "They 
snno; as it were a new sono- before the throne, and 
before tlie four living creatures and the elders." Ver. 3. 
The "hundred and forty and four thousand" is a 
mystic number, literally the square of twelve, denot- 
ing the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel. 
But the numbers are not to be taken literally but 
figuratively, denoi'mg fullness ; as if the number of the 
triumphant saints was beyond computation. 

In verses 6, 7, the apostle saw "an angel fly in the 
midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach 
unto them that dwell on the earth," and warning the 
nations, meanwhile, that "the hour of God's judg- 
ment is come," and that they should " worship him 
that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the 
fountains of waters." This is not a call to the final 
judgment, but to acknowledge and fear the approach- 
ing and impending judgments of God, which will be 
revealed simultaneously with the faithful preaching of 
the Gospel. 

In verses 8-11 the nations are warned that "Babylon 
is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all 
nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornica- 
tion," Then follow awful warnings of judgments soon 
to come upon those that adhere to the mystic Babylon. 
This Babylon is the same as the "beast" in verses 
1, 2, 3; the same as antichrist, and the "harlot." 
Chap, xvii, 5. "Here is the [necessity for] patience of 
the saints : here are they that keep the commandments 
of God and the faith of Jesus." If there be any thing re- 
liable in unf ulHlled prophecy, it is that in the latter days, 



114 ESCHATOLOGY. 

before the millennium, there will be closer grappling 
with antichrist and with all forms of worldliness than 
we find in these days; a greater call for patience, greater 
self-denial, greater Christian consecration, more of the 
spirit of Christ, a keeping closer to the martyr-like 
type of Christian experience than now. The watch- 
word was given in previous visions : " And they over- 
came him [the dragon] by the blood of the Lamb, and 
by the word of their testimony, and they loved not 
their lives unto the death." Chap, xii, 11. The watch- 
word now is: "Here is the j^atience of the saints: 
here are they that keep the commandments of God, 
and the laitli of Jesus." Yer. 12. And to refresh and 
strengthen their faith and patience the glorious de- 
claration is given (ver. 13), "Blessed are the dead 
which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the 
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their 
works do follow them." 

The vision given in verses 14-20 must be interpreted 
in close proximity with the foregoing portion of the 
chapter. The pervading ideas are the thickening judg- 
ments of God upon the antichristian nations. As the 
l^rophet foresaw the fall of Babylon (antichrist), verse 8, 
and as this unmistakably locates the vision at the 
dawn of the millennium, so here, in the vision of " the 
harvest of the earth,'' we are to look for kindred reve- 
lations in great sufferings and in great victories. Let 
the reader carefully compare especially verses 8-12 with 
verses 15-20. The latter is full of suggestion. The 
scene opens at verse 14. One like unto the Son of man 
appears upon a white cloud, Avith a golden crown, and 
in his hand a sharp sickle. He is reminded by an angel 
that "the harvest of the earth is ripe," and "the time 
is come for him to reap," "And he that sat on the 
cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth 



The Skvexth Thumpet Period. 115 

■was reaped." Yer. IG. Another angel is commanded 
"to thrust in his sharp sickle and gather the clusters of 
the vine," etc. Thus the wheat harvest and vintage, 
the chief products of tlie year, are gathered. 

AYe cannot give what we deem to be the sense of the 
passage without giving the literal import of the meta- 
phors. First, the language, " thrust in thy sickle and 
reap," is a command to execute judgment. This is not 
a call to the final judgment, but for the execution of 
special judgment upon those nations which had con- 
tested and opposed the kingdom of Christ. Secondly, 
the two, and only two, harvests which call for the 
special judgments of God for interference comprehend 
the totality and extent, as well as sharpness and severity, 
of the antagonism to the kingdom of Christ by the hos- 
tile nations so far as relates to their active persecution, 
their organized opposition and oppression. John speaks 
from the heart of Jewish life and custom. The Jews 
knew two principal harvests — the wheat harvest in May, 
and the vintage, in its third and last grai)e gathering, 
in September.* These represented the staple prod- 
ucts or harvests of the year. Tliis is precisely the 
basis of the metaphor, Yerse 16 represents the first or 
wheat harvest; and verses 19, 20, the vintage or "the 
vine of the earth," which was " cast into the great wine- 
press of the wrath of God." Yerse 20 is only an 
expression of the profusion of blood which will be shed 
in this last effort of antichrist. The date of this synch- 
ronizes Avith chapter xix, 17-21; namely, in the time 

* " The full meaning of the promise contained in Lev. xxvi, 5, that 
is, that 'the threshing should reach unto the vintage, and the vintage 
unto the sowing-time,' will bo apprehended by remembering that in 
Palestine generally the wheat harvest ordinarily begins the end of 
May, and tiie vintage the- end of August, while plowing and sowing- 
can rarely bo done before November." — Van Lennep^s Bible Lands. 



116 EsCHATOLOGY. 

immediately preceding the millennium, after the fall of 
mystic Babylon, immediately following the great war 
or battle of Armageddon. Chap, xvi, 16. These will 
come to be noticed in their places. The ideas of har- 
vest and reaping^ of a world-wide significance, can apply 
only to the last times. Matt, xiii, 30. 

The general scope and significance of chapter xv may 
be briefly given. The whole is a prelude to the scene 
of " the seven last plagues," or the seven golden vials 
full of the wrath of God." The apostle called it a 
" sign, great and marvelous, for in them is filled up 
the wrath of God." Ver. 1. There is nothing to excel 
the solemn imj^ort of these chapters till we reach the 
final judgment scene. And, we may add, there is nothing 
to equal the triumphs of this group of epochs till we 
reach the " new heavens and new earth " beyond the 
grave. 



The Vial Epochs. 117 



C II A P T E R Y II . 

THE YIAL EPOCHS. 
First Yial — Second Tial— Third Yial. 

It will be remembered tliat the seven vials embrace 
the period of the seventh trumpet, which also is the 
period of " the man of sin," or antichrist. This period, 
by the most careful and well attested identifications, 
extends during twelve hundred and sixty solar years, 
and finds its date recorded in chapter x. We have 
already stated that chapters xi to xiv give no consecu- 
tive chronological order, but only various and independ- 
ent glimpses or sporadic lights of the shifting scenes 
of the periods. But we now return, in chapter x.vi, 
to direct and connected chronology, of which chap, xv is 
only the prelude and announcement. In chapter xv, 1-4, 
we have the renewed triumph of the true Church over 
the "beast," reaching down from Moses, " the servant 
of God," and ending Avith the victories of the Lamb. 
Through all the ages, patriarchal, mosaic, and Christian, 
the true Church is but one, " and all nations shall come 
and worship before thee [the Lord] for thy judgments 
are made manifest." Yer. 4. 

After this acknowledgment of the past and hopeful 
earnest of the future and final results, John "looked, 
and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testi- 
mony in heaven was opened." Yer. 5. The uncover- 
ing of the ark cf the testimony in the " holy of holies " 
has in it the force of oath in promise and prophecy 
that God will fulfill, the covenant, and bring his Church 
trium})hantly through the fiery ordeal. The scene of 



118 ESCHATOLOGT. 

the open temple is renewed (ver. 8) with increased 
emphasis: "And the temple was tilled with smoke 
[from the profuse burning of incense, and] from the 
glory of God, and from his power; and no man Vv^as able 
to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the 
seven angels were fulfilled;" that is, till the twelve 
hundred and sixty years of antichrist shall be fulfilled, 
nnd the opening scenes of the millennium shall come, as 
recorded in chapter xix. Through all these intervening 
centuries the Church will have sore conflicts with the 
hostile nations from without, and corrupt elements 
from within, but through all discouragement " the tem- 
ple of the tabei-nacle of the testimony in heaven will 
stand open " to remind the suffering Church that the 
covenant engagement is valid before God, and " no man 
will be able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues 
of the seven angels shall be fulfilled." 

We now resume the regular connected chronology 
from Avhere we left it, in chapter ix, 21: and it will 
carry us on to the millennium, chapter xx, 1-10. 

I. The Opening of the First Vial Epoch is thus given: 
John says: "I heard a great voice out of the tem23le 
saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out 
the vials of the wrath of (.Tod upon the earth. And the 
first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and 
there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men 
which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which 
worshiped his image." Chap, xvi, 1-2. 

The language of the first vial period describes suffer- 
ing, but not chiefly from war, or pestilence, or famine. 
The reference of the symbol seems to be to Exod. ix, 
9, 10: And Moses sprinkled it [ashes] "toward heaven, 
audit became a boil breaking forth with blains upon 
man and upon beast." The "vial" was poured out 
" u2)on the earth " (ver. 1, 2), and if we take the word 



The Vial Epochs. 119 

earth symbolically to signify people not in covenant 
with God — pagans, or those who have cast off the true 
faith— and are in bodily and mental distress and per- 
plexity, we shall approach the sense intended by the 
symbol. " Painful and noisome distempers of the 
body are very proper emblems of an afflictive condi- 
tion of life." * 

Observe, this " noisome and grievous sore " fell only 
" upon the men which had the mark of tJie beast, and 
upon thent lohich loors/ilped his iniage.^'' The seat of 
the suffering is personal, in the moral consciousness; 
not a wound, but, like an ulcerous humor, painful and 
repulsive. In finding the prototype of such figures W3 
must keep close to the moral limitations of the symbols. 
The cause of suffering is here limited to a given class 
of worshipers. Here, within the pale of the Christian 
Church, the '' beast " — the supreme authority over the 
Church — had brought into the Church, and within the 
solemnities and purity of the true worship, all the 
badges of essential heathen idolatry. The reader will 
remember that the Christian Church is now apostate, 
and the pope takes the prophetic title of beast (literally, 
wild ber/si), harlot, Babylon. 

We find no condition of this society at this date an- 
swerable to these requisites, except the absorbing con- 
troversy as to the use of images in religious faith and 
worship; the Greek Church oi)posing, and the Latin, or 
Romish Church, sustaining. " The use, and even the 
worship, of images was firmly established before the 
end of the sixth century," f nnd was firmly inwrought 
upon the superstition of the times. 

To the eye of the more enlightened observer these 
iraagfs of Christ and the apostles, the Virgin Mary and 
saints, bore all the marks of heathen idolatry ; and 
* Lowman. f Gibbon. 



120 ESCHATOLOGY. 

this title and scandal were literally awarded by tlie 
Jews and Mohammedans throughout the Christian 
world. It is not our province or purpose to enter into 
a full statement of the history of these times, which 
every reader of Church history understands ; but it is 
sufficient to say that the magnitude of the subject, in 
its influence on the welfare of the Church, is such as to 
justify its place in the page of projjhecy, and fully jus- 
tify the position here assigned. 

The worship of images had insensibly crept into the 
Church from an early date, ostensibly as helping devo- 
tion and giving reality to things not seen; and in this 
light it had been tolerated, and had gained great favor 
and influence, especially over those who were still under 
the power of heathen superstition. The first open and 
determined attack upon the image-worship was in the 
early part of the eighth century. In Constantinople 
and the East, in 754, the emperor Loo III, backed by 
the decision of a synodical council of three hundred 
and thirty- eight bishops, ordered that the images be 
demolished. In Rome and the West the pope counter- 
acted the imperi.il edict, and ordered that the images 
be retained and honored. This brought both the civil 
and ecclesiastical authorities, East and West, in di- 
rect collision. War ensued, and political complications 
brought the pope as a suppliant at the feet of Pepin, King 
of France, for help, who, in the result, vanquished his 
enemies, and put the pope not only in command of the 
question of images and their worship, but in possession 
of the "patrimony of St. Peter" also. Meanwhile the 
pope excommunicated the emperor, and dissolved the 
allegiance of his subjects. The result was, however, 
that the pope triumphed, and the political and ecclesi- 
astical power of the emperor in Italy and the West was 
irrecoverably lost. 



The Yial Epochs. 121 

The coDtrovcrsy on images, however, was not so 
easily settled. The Churches were not satisfied, and 
though in Italy and the West they were hushed by 
authority in favor of retaining images, in Constantino- 
ple and the East the diseased body was long divided, 
ngitated, and perplexed, " as with a noisome and griev- 
ous sore;" and the worship of images became "a mark 
of the beast." " The sect of the Iconoclasts was sup- 
2~)orted by the zeal and despotism of six emperors, and 
the East and West were involved in a noisy conflict of 
one hundred and twenty years," * dating at the begin- 
ning of tlie eighth century. During all those years of 
agitation the highest authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, 
were called into the controversy, and every artifice and 
argument employed, on the one hand to sustain, and on 
the other to defeat, the use of images in worship. 

But the question was not to be determined by argu- 
ment, but by power. In the year A. D. 780 the em- 
press Irene called a synod, afterward declared to be a 
general council, to establish the worship of images. 
The council met at Nice. " They unanimously pro- 
nounced that the worship of images is agreeable to 
Scripture and reason," ane ratified the act by " accla- 
mations and subscriptions." Still the disuse of images 
in worship was secretly practiced. The final establish- 
ment of the use of images was completed by the Empress 
Theodora in 842. The moral effect of this controversy 
and its final triumph in favor of images had the effect 
to plunge the people into a deeper and more real 
idolatry. 

II. We have noio come to consider the Second Yial 
l^jyoch, which is so similar to the Third Vialm its sym- 
bolism that we shall group them together. 

The inspired apostle thus gives the second and third 
* Gibbon, 



122 ESCHATOLOGY. 

vials: "And the second angel ponred out his vial upon 
the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and 
every living soul died in the sea. And the third 
angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fount- 
ains of waters; and they became blood." Rev. 
xvi, 3, 4. 

The symbolism of the two vials would authorize this 
distinction, namely, that the former pours out his vial 
upon the masses of the uncovenanted people, and the 
latter upon the whole body of the officiary, as having 
the burden and I'csponsibility of government directly 
in hand. It will be noticed that both vials were emp- 
tied upon the Avaters, both became blood, and that in 
both we must understand the profuse shedding of blood 
by wars, or civil feuds, or bloody persecutions. In the 
second vial the contents were poured out upon the 
" sea." Sea, as we have already observed, symbolically 
denotes multitude, especially multitudes in a state of 
hostility to God. These God will overthrow in his 
wrath. Thus (Rev. xiii, 1), "I saw a beast rise out of 
the sea ;" that is, a war-king rising out of the agitations 
of the people : similar to Psa. Ixv, 7, "Which stilleth 
the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the 
tumult of the people." Jer. li, 42, "The sea is come 
up over Babylon " — Babylon deluged by a conquering 
army. 

As to the third vial, the angel " poured out his vial 
upon the rivers and fountains of water." Rivers, in 
symbolicl anguage, often takes tlie sense of emissary 
or tributary power, power which supplies and sup- 
ports the supreme authority of government, "pro- 
vincial government," influent, not final. " These may, 
according to exact analogy, be called rivers, because 
both themselves and their acts have recourse to the 
main sea, or fountain-head of government — the 



The Yial Epochs. 123 

am})Iitude of that jurisdiction to which they be- 
h^ng." * 

It is further evident, from the language of the 
avenging angels, that bloody wars are the character- 
istic traits of these vial epochs. And thus they pro- 
nounce the justice of God: " Thou art righteous, O 
Lord, which art, and wast, and shall be, because thou 
hast judged thus. For they have shed tlie blood of 
saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to 
drink ; for they are worth}^ And I heaixl another out 
of the altar say. Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and 
righteous are thy judgments." Vers. 5-7. 

If words have any meaning the language of these 
vials, taken in connection with the corroborative chant 
and refrain (vers. 5-7), denotes avenging justice upon 
the bloody persecutors of the Church of Clirist. We 
must, therefore, in looking for that state of society and 
government which answers to the language of the 
prophecy, look for sufferings and cruelty and persecu- 
tion to the Church such as the world had never seen, 
and, if we read prophecy correctly, never will see 
again. 

It is necessary to fix the proper date of these two 
epochs — the second and the third — in order to deter- 
mine the true events upon which the j^rophet had fixed 
his eye, and by which we should explain the symbols. 
The first vial epoch (chap, xvi, 1, 2,) dates at the be- 
ginning of the period of antichrist, answering to A. D. 
756, and terminatino; at the final establishins^ of imasjes 
in worship by the Empress Theodora, A. D. 842. At 
this last date we open the scene of the second and third 
vials. 

* See Werayss's Symholical Dictionary^ founded on tlie Symbolical 
Dictionary of Daubuz, with- additions from Yitriuga, Evvaldus, and 
others. 



t 
124 ESCHATOLOGY. 

Charlemagne, the French emperor, had died in 814, 
after having reigned forty-five years. He was devoted 
to the policy and authority of the papacy, and with 
some strong traits of character and some of vices he 
rose to the zenith of imperial power and ambition. His 
extent of dominion by conquest embraced France, 
Spain, Italy, Germany, and Hungary. Fifty-two cam- 
paigns are computed to have been served under his 
banners. Hallam thus speaks of him: "Unsparing of 
blood, though not constitutionally cruel, and wholly 
indifferent to the means which his ambition prescribed, 
he beheaded in one day four thousand Saxons: an act 
of atrocious butchery, after which his persecuting 
edicts, pronouncing the pain of death against those who 
refused baptism, or even who ate flesh during Lent 
seem scarcely worthy of notice." * 

Anxious to convert the Saxons, Charlemagne sent an 
army into their country to subdue them to the Catholic 
faith. He seemed to think that religion could be forced 
upon them, as if it involved only the observance of 
given forms and a given creed. " After a number of 
battles gallantly fought, and many cruelties committed 
on both sides, the Saxons were totally subjected; but 
as they were no less tenacious of tlieir religious than of 
their civil liberty, persecution marched in the train of 
war and stained with blood the fetters of slavery." As 
we have said, " four thousand of their princi})al men, be- 
cause they refused, on a particular occasion, to give up 
their celebrated general, Wittikind, were ordered to be 
massacred — an instance of severity scai'cely to be paral- 
leled in the history of mankind, especially if we consider 
that the Saqons were not the natural subjects of Charles, 
but an independent people struggling for freedom. 
He compelled tlie Saxons, under pain of deaths to re- 
* Hallam's Middle Ages, chap, i, part I. 



TuE Vial Epochs. 125 

ceive baptism, condemned to the severest punishments 
the breakers of Lent, and every-where substituted force 
for persuasion." * 

But this cost, these cruelties and sufferings, of which 
we can give but an inadequate idea, must be duplicated 
in the successors of Charlemagne. The empire that am- 
bition had reared and devoted to the papacy must be 
separated and dissolved. It was raised by bloody wars 
and oppressive imposts; it must fall by the same means. 
It took forty-six years to rear the structure and seventy- 
four years to dissolve it. We are now in the shadows 
of the tenth century — the darkest age the world ever 
saw — the legitimate outcome of papal domination. 
"The history of the Roman pontiffs that lived in this 
[tenth] century," says the learned Mosheim, "is a his- 
tory of so many monsters, and not of men, and exhibits 
a horrible series of the most flagitious and complicated 
crimes, as all writers, even those of the Romish com- 
munion, unanimously confess," All witnesses attest the 
bloody tinge of the times. " In the beginning of the 
tenth century," says Gibbon, "the family of Charle- 
magne had almost disappeared; his monarchy was 
broken into many hostile and independent States; the 
regal title was assumed by the most ambitious chiefs; 
their revolt was imitated in a long subordination of an- 
archy and discord, and the nobles of every province 
disobeyed their sovereign, oppressed their vassals, and 
exercised perpetual hostilities against their equals and 
neighbors. Their private wars, which overturned the 
fabric of government, fomented the martial spirit of 
the nation."! It was only after a brief but terrible 
war, in which were consumed one hundred thou- 
sand Franks, that the empire was finally divided 

♦Jones's Church History^ p. 260. 

\ Decline and Fall of the Roman Eminre^ vol. v, p. 372. 



126 ESCIIATOLOGY. 

between three grandsons, but with no guarantee of 
peace. 

Very lightly have we j)assed over events of high his- 
toric import, but our subject requires only a notice of 
the current and tendencies of things, and of their influ- 
ence on the fulfillment of prophecy, leaving the student 
to pursue the theme at his own freedom. 

We are now, in the second and third vial epochs, 
Rev. xi, 2, 3, finding, as we judge, the most probable 
events in history denoted by the symbols of prophecy. 
The' "vials" represent periods of time; the "blood" 
denotes war, the "sea" denotes multitudes of people, 
and the " rivers and fountains of water " represent sub- 
ordinate powers. The history of the Waldenses and 
other kindred witnesses for Christ here demands a 
notice. 

The people called Waldenses, also Vaudois, did not 
apjDear publicly till early in the twelfth century, when 
they withdrew from the papal Church and retired to the 
villages of the lower Alps to avoid persecution. As they 
renounced papacy, and considered the pope to be "the 
man of sin," and an apostate from the true faith, they 
drew down upon them the severest persecution. As the 
common reader knows their story, we need only mention 
some of their sufferings for Christ's sake as they fall 
into the current of events during the second and third 
vial epochs. 

Inquiry was made into the doctrines of these people, 
and as they were found to be fundamentally opposite 
the Romish faith, and their adherents could not be pre- 
vailed upon to renounce them, resort was made to the 
most horrible cruelties in order to force submission, 
calling out the civil power to execute the vengeance 
which the priesthood had prescribed. They died like 
true martyrs. "Multitudes, however, fled like innocent 



The A'ial Epochs. 127 

ar.J defenseless sheep from these devouring wolves. 
They crossed the xVlps and traveled in every direction- 
Providence and tlie prospect of safety conducted them 
into Germany, England, France, Italy, and other coun- 
tries. They evcry-where drew attention, and their doc- 
trine formed increasing circles around them. Tlve storm 
which threatened their destruction only scattered them 
as the precious seeds of tlie future glorious reformation 
of the Christian Church." * Among others who labo]-ed 
Avas Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, who came 
forward and preached with great power and success in 
various- parts of Europe. But persecution followed. 
" In Alsace and along the Rhine the doctrines of Waldo 
spread extensively. Persecution ensued. Thirty-five 
citizens of Mentz were burned in one fire, at the city of 
Bengen, and eighteen at Mentz itself. The bishops of 
both Mentz and Strasburg breathed nothing but venge- 
ance and slaughter against them. At the latter city, 
where Waldo himself nari-owly escaped apprehension, 
eighty persons were committed to the flames." f 

In order to make the search, detection, and punish- 
ment of heretics effectual, laws ^vere framed the most 
rigid, inhuman, and bloody which weie ever known in 
barbarian or savage life. "The statutes of the Council 
of Toulouse [A. D. 1220], in order absolutely to extir- 
pate every lingering vestige of heresy, formed the code 
of persecution, which not merely aimed at suppressing 
all public teaching, but the more secluded and secret 
frecd<im of thought. It was a system wliich penetrated 
into the most intimate sanctuary of domestic life; and 
made devotion not merely a merit and a duty, but an 
obligation also, enforced by tremendous penalties. 

" The archbishops, bishops, and exempt abbots were 
to appoint in every parish one priest, and three or more 
♦Jones. \Ihid. 



128 ESCHATOLOGY. 

lay inquisitors to search all houses and buiklings, in 
order to detect heretics, and to denounce them to the 
nrchbishop or bishop, the lord or his bailiff, so as to 
insure their apprehension. The lords were to make the 
same inquisition in every part of their estates. Who- 
ever was convicted of liarboring a heretic forfeited the 
land to his lord, and was reduced to personal slavery. 
If he was guilty of ruch concealment from negligence, 
not from intention, he received proportionate punish- 
ment. Every house in which a heretic was found was 
to be razed to the ground, the farm confiscated. The 
bailiff who should not be active in detecting heretics 
was to lose his office and be incapacitated from holding 
in future. Heretics, however, were not to be judged 
but by the bishop or some ecclesiastical person. Any 
one might seize a heretic on the lands of another. 
Heretics Avho recanted were to remove from their 
homes, and settle in Catholic cities; to wear two 
cri)sses of a different color from their dress, one on the 
right side, one on the left. They were incapable of 
any public function unless by the pope or by his legate. 
Those who recanted from fear of death were to be im- 
mured forever. All persons, males of the age of four- 
teen, females of tv/elve, were to take an oath of abjura- 
tion of heresy, and of their Cp.tholic faith; if absent 
and not appearing within fifteeu days, they were held 
suspected of heresy. All persons were to confess and 
communicate three times a year, or were, in like manner, 
under suspicion of heresy. No layman was permitted 
to have any book of the Old or New Testament, espe- 
cially in a translation, unless, perhnps, the Psalter, with 
a breviary, or the Hours of the Virgin. No one sus- 
pected of heresy could practice as a physician. Care 
was to be taken that no heretic had access to sick or 
dying persons. All wills were to be made in the pres- 



The Yial Epochs. 129 

ence of a priest. Ko office of trust was to be held by 
one in evil fame as a heretic. Those were in evil fame 
who were so by common report, or so declared by good 
and grave witnesses before the bishop."* 

Similar laws were enacted at different times. Dom- 
inic had constituted the Inquisition, and urged it on 
with most inhuman zeal. About A. D. 1215 persecu- 
tion raged with great violence. For fifty years men 
acted with infuriated zeal to exterminate what the 
popes would call heresy, that is, opposition to their owm 
ambitious 2)olicy. The methods for detecting and pun- 
ishing those who Avere called heretics surpasses all con- 
ception in criminal law. " In the united kingdoms of 
Castile and Arragon there were eighteen different in- 
quisitorial courts, having each of them its counselors, 
termed apostolical inquisitors; its secretaries, sergeants, 
and other officers; and besides these there were tioenty 
thousand familiars dispersed throughout the kingdom, 
who noted as sj^ies and informers, and were employed 
to apprehend all suspected persons, and commit them 
for trial to the prisons which belonged to the Inqui- 
sition. By these familiars, persons were seized on bare 
suspicion, and in contradiction to the established rules 
of equity they Avere put to the torture, tried, and con- 
demned by the inquisitors, w^ithout being confronted 
either Avith their accusers or with the witnesses on 
Avhose evidence they were condemned. The punish- 
ments inflicted Avere more or less dreadful, according 
to the caprice and humor of the judges. The unhappy 
victims Avere either strangled or committed to the 
flames, or loaded Avith chains and shut up in dungeons 
during life — their effects confiscated, and their fam- 
ilies stigmatized Avith infamy. Authors of undoubted 
credit affirm, and Avithout the least exaggeration, that 
* Milmau's Latin CJiriifiamti/, vol. v, pp. 225-227. 



130 ESCIIATOLOGI'. 

millions of persons have been ruined by this terrible 
court. In Spain Moors were banished a million at a 
time. Six or eight hundred thousand Jews were driven 
away at once, and their immense riches seized by their 
accusers. Heretics of all ranks and of different denom- 
inations were imprisoned and burned, or fled into other 
countries." * 

The armies employed by Pope Innocent III. de- 
stroyed above two hundred thousand of the Walden- 
ses in the space of five months. Another army of 
more than one hundred thousand attacked the Al- 
bigenses, took one of the cities, filled the streets with 
slaughter and blood, and committed many to the flames. 
In another place one of the cities of the Earl of Beziers 
was besieged, and twenty-three thousand were indis- 
criminately massacred. The invading army was soon 
increased to three hundred thousand; and they now 
besieged the capital. But the besieged at last escaped 
through a subterranean passage, leading to the more in- 
accessible part of the mountain. The Earl of Mont- 
fort and the pope's legate at another time (A. D. 1239) 
commanded that one hundred and eighty men and 
women be committed to be burned, " and they were all 
burned at the same time, in the same flames, in the pres- 
ence of eighteen bishops. * It is a holocaust agreeable 
to God,' exclaimed a monk who witnessed the execu- 
tion. Was it to be expected that a woman and a child 
should rise up against an ecclesiastic practice which 
was sanctioned by the concurrent zeal of monks, of 
prelates, of popes, and of councils ?"f These scenes 
of slauQ^hter and devastation had been carried on ag^ainst 
the Albigenses, in the southern provinces of France, for 
more than twenty years, during the former part of the 
thirteenth century, when by careful computation it was 
* Jones. f WadcUngton's Church Ilisfory, p. 359. 



The Seven Vial Epochs. 131 

ascertained that a inilllon pcr8on'& 'bearing that name 
were jnit to death. This occnsioned many to cross the 
P3-renees and seek shelter in Spain and other countries. 

"AVe may observe that the persecuting power of 
popery was fully established, and raged with greatest 
fury during this period of time (A. D. 1200). It was 
in this day tliey were most eminently distinguished for 
shedding the blood of saints and prophets." 

The Albigenses became numerous and powerful; they 
were spread through Languedoc, Dauphine, Provence, 
and Aragon ; they were protected by persons in power, 
in 2:)articular by Raymond, Count of Toulouse. Pope 
Innocent III. sent his legates to suppress them about 
A. D. 1198. He gave them commission not only to 
preach against the Albigenses, but to excite princes and 
people to exterminate them by a crusade, in which he 
endeavoi'ed to engage Philip Augustus, then king of 
France, and the great princes and lords of his king- 
dom." * In this he also engaged Father Dominic, of 
notorious inquisitorial fame, who pledged himself to 
carry out the yjlans of the pope. 

Frederick II. of Germany died about A. D. 1250. 
He was a monster in his treatment of the so-called 
heretics, and published four edicts against them in 122 1. 
In his fourth edict he is thus disposed to speak: "We 
condemn to perpetual infamy, withdraw our protection 
from, and put under ban the Puritans, Patarenes, Leon- 
ists, Arnoldists, Passignes, Josephines, Albigenses, Wal- 
denses, etc., and all other heretics of both sexes, and of 
whatsoever name; and ordain that their goods may be so 
confiscated as that their children may never inherit them, 
seeing if is much more heinous to offend the eternal than 
the temporal majesty." It then proceeds to condemn 
all suspected pyersons as heretics, if they do not purge 
* Lowman. 



132 ESCHATOLOGY, 

themselves within a year, commands the officials to ex- 
terminate heretics from all places subject to them, or- 
ders that the land of the barons shall be seized by the 
Catholics, if they do not purge them from heretics 
within a year after proper admonition, and ordains 
various punishments against all the favorers of heretics, 
thus closing the dreadful catalogue: "Furthermore, 
we put under our ban those who believe, receive, de- 
fend, and favor heretics; ordaining that if any person 
shall refuse to give satisfaction within a year after his 
communication, he shall be ipso jure infamous, and not 
admitted to any kind of public office — let him be in- 
testable, and let him not have the power of making a 
will, nor of receiving any thing by succession or in- 
heritance. Moreover, let no one answer for him in any 
affair, but let him be obliged to answer others. If he 
should be a judge, let his sentence be of no effect, nor 
any causes be heard before him. If an advocate, let 
him never be admitted to plead in any one's defense. 
If a notary, let no instruments made by him be valid. 
We add, that a heretic may be a heretic, and that 
the houses of the Patarenes, their abettors, and favor- 
ers, either where they have taught, or where they have 
laid hands on others, shall be destroyed, never to be 
rebuilt." Dated at Padua, Feb. 22, 1229. * 

Nothing could be more infamous and cruel than 
these edicts, issued under imperial authority in the 
name and pretense of justice and religion. We quote 
it here as showing the hopelessness of the cause of the 
Waldenses and their suffering compeers in any possi- 
ble appeal to human justice. The ruling power in 
every kingdom of Europe stood ready to execute the 
sentence of death and torture upon all, without respect 
to age or sex, upon Avhom the suspicion of heresy was 
* Jones's Church History, p. 363. 



The Seyex Yial Epochs. 133 

fixed, by pope, or bishop, or inquisition. The extent 
and horrible results of the persecutions we have not 
space or disposition to mention, but enough has been 
said to determine, beyond a possibility of doubt, the 
powerful cmimus of the Roman hierarchy — the " man 
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth 
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that 
is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of 
God, showing himself that he is God. . . . Whom the 
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall 
destroy with the brightness of his coming." 2 Thess. 
ii, 3, 4, 8. 

One more allusion to the distress of these times 
which we consider to fall within the time of the third 
vial, and to be indicated by its symbols, may be here 
given. We refer to the " crusades," especially the first 
three. From the early history of the Church, after the 
first century, especially after the fourth century, when 
Constantine had professed the Christian faith, it be- 
came a growing custom for the Christians to make pil- 
grimages to Jerusalem and other places made sacred 
by the miracles of Christ, and to take and bear away 
something as a sacred memorial of the visit. The 
Christian and Mohammedan alike considered the act 
and the sacred relic to have a virtue favorable to their 
future state. This custom had become greatly en- 
larged after the conquest of Jerusalem by the Saracens, 
A. B. 637, and had been a source of great gain by the 
followers of Mohammed. 

To rescue Jerusalem from the hands of the so-called 
"infidels," and place the holy city under Christian 
control, was the ostensible object and design of the cru- 
saders. Never was Europe so profoundly agitated, re- 
ligiously, as by the proposition to rescue the holy 
place from this desecration and place it in Christian 



134 ESCHATOLOGY. 

hands. The enthusiasm soon reached the ultimate 
limit of fanaticism. The crowned heads generally 
favored the enterprise, but were careful not to advent- 
ure in person. Men and women who had no concep- 
tion of the dangers and difficulties involved clamored 
by thousands — sixty thousand at one time — to be led 
forward. Peter the Hermit preached every-where. 
The people were wild with excitement. Two synods 
indorsed and urged on the day of departure. The 
pope saw, and stimulated the enterprise by personal 
address, and by liberal indulgences, and the promise of 
rew^ard in this life and that which is to come. Enlist- 
ment here secures eternal life hereafter. 

Seven crusades in all covered tv/o hundred years ; 
the first three fall within about one hundred years, 
bringing the prophetic termini of the first three vial 
epochs down to about A. D. 1189. We have already 
stated that w^ar and bloodshed characterized these 
epochs. Their general title is that of " vials full of the 
seven last plagues; " "vials of the wrath of God." In 
the epistle of tlie vision the angel of the waters said, 
"Thou art righteous, O Lord, , . . for they have shed 
the blood of saints, and thou hast given them blood to 
drink, for they are worth3^" 

The question then is, whether the history of the 
times justifies the symbolism of the prophecy? This 
can be ascertained only by results — judged of only by 
facts and figures. 

Waddington has put the figures too low when he 
says, "the loss of Christian life occasioned by the cru- 
sades is fairly calculated at more than two million." * 
Three hundred thousand of the first crusade are re- 
ported to have perished before a single city was rescued 
from the infidels. The first crusade started out with 
* History of the Church, p. 372. 



The Vial Epochs. 125 

three luindi'ed and sixty thousnnd foot and sixty thou- 
sand liorse with an indetinite host of pilgrims. Jeni- 
salcni was taken from the Saracens and a Latin kingdom 
establislied by Godfrey Bouillon, and Jerusalem and its 
sacred places placed in the hands of the Christians. In 
a military sense the expedition so far mJght be consid- 
ered triumphant. But the cost in human flesh and 
blood "is calculated with probability at about twelve 
hundred thousand." * 

After forty-eight years from the date of the taking of 
Jerusalem, a second crusade was fitted out for the sup- 
port of the Christian power wdiich now held the do- 
minion of Jerusalem with a feeble tenure. The arma- 
ment created was imposing and immense, and from the 
character of its leaders the greatest hopes of victory 
were entertained. It was like Europe against Asia. 

Four hundred thousand foot and one hundred and 
forty thousand horse would seem to give adequate as- 
surance of supporting the fallen for'.unes of the Christian 
cause in Palestine. In addition to the military array 
about six hundred thousand persons, male and female, are 
computed to be attached to the expedition as pilgrims. 
As Peter the Hermit was foremost in rousing the fa- 
natical passion of Europe in the first crusade, so now 
the same spirit animated St. Bernard. 

"The history of religious war has not recorded any 
expedition at the same time more fatal and more fruit- 
less than the crusade of St. Bernard. After two or 
three years of suffering and disaster almost uninter- 
rupted, a miserable remnant of survivors returned to 
relate their misfortunes and marvel at their discomfit- 
ure. A general outcry was raised against the author of 
the<e calamities; innum.erable widows and orphans de- 
manded of the prophet their husbands and their sires; 
* Wiiddington, Part IV, Chap, xxi, sec. 4. 



133 ESCIIATOLOGY. 

or at least they claimed the sacred laurels which he had 
promised, the triumphs which he liad vouchsafed in his 
dispensation of the boons of heaven to the soldiers of 
the cross." * But the suffering widows could gain no 
pity, no redress. " The crime of St. Bernard, the most 
enlightened prelate of his time, who usurped the attri- 
butes and forged the seal of God in order to launch 
some hundreds of thousands of confiding Christians 
into probable destruction, or at least into successful 
massacre, excites a serious indignation which it would 
be partial to suppress, and which neither his talents nor 
his virtues nor his piety nor the vicious principles of 
his age are sufficient to remove." f 

The third crusade, the last one we shall mention, 
dates A. D. 1187, commanded by Frederick I. of Ger- 
many. His armament consisted of one hundred thou- 
sand foot, sixty thousand horse, fifteen thousand 
knights, and an equal number of squires, " the flower of 
the German chivalry." 

We have so far lifted the veil of history upon the 
European west and the Asiatic east as to fully meet the 
demands of our argument in unfolding the symbolism 
of prophecy. We stand amazed at the purposes of 
God in suffering the barbarians of the north to descend 
upon Europe with their millions, deluging society and 
government, language and civilization, in one undistin- 
guishing mass of ruins; in suffering the Saracens, and 
afterward the Turks, to do to Western Asia and North- 
ern Africa what the barbarians did to Europe; and now 
to suffer, for two hundred years, to keep society and 
civilization at a poise, unable to advance, developing 
under the pretense of piety and the v*dll of God a type 
of fanaticism which is in no wise superior to that of 
the northern barbarians or the Mohammedans. The 
* Waddington, Part IV, Chap, xxi, sec. 4. \ Ihid. 



The Vial Epochs. 137 

wateliword of the papists was, "It is the will of God," 
and hereby takes the Avill or seal of God to sanction 
the most atrocious acts of cruelty, brutality, and lust 
that tlie world has ever witnessed. It must be borne 
in mind that we have not attempted to notice all the 
wars which have occurred within the times and nations 
mentioned, but so much only as sufficed to meet the 
demands of our argument. If a million of men have 
fallen in battle, or in consequence of war, the distress 
is duplicated by the effects of war upon families, upon 
general society and government, upon civilization and 
the industrial arts. When these considerations are 
despised men and nations must learn the bitterness of 
transgression by the fruits of experience. God has no 
other method. "Among the many evil consequences 
of the crusades we may account this perhaps as the 
worst — that they put arms into the hands of intoler- 
ance, and finally kindled in the bosom of Europe the 
same fanatical passions with which they had desolated 
the East." * 

"The crusades, if we could calculate the incalculable 
waste of human life from first to last (a waste without 
achieving any enduring result), and all the human misery 
which is implied in that loss of life, may seem the most 
wonderful frenzy which ever possessed mankind. But 
from a less ideal point of view — a view of human af- 
fairs as they have actually evolved under the laws or 
guidance of divine Providence — considerations suggest 
themselves which miticjate or altoi^cther avert this con- 
temptuous or condemnatory sentence. If Christianity, 
which was 'to mold and fuse the barbarous nations into 
one great European society — if Latin Christianity and 
tlie political system of the West were to be one in lim- 
its and extent, it was compelled to assume this less 
* TTaddington, Part IV, Cliap. xxi, sec. 4. 
10 



138 ESCHATOLOGY. 

spiritual, more materialistic form. TJeverence for holy 
places — that intense passion which first showed itself 
in pilgrimages, afterward in the crusade — was an insep- 
arable part of what has been called mediaeval Chris- 
tianity. ISTor was this age less inevitably an age of 
war — an age in which human life, even if it had not 
been thrown away on so vast a scale on one object, 
would hardly have escaped other destruction. ... Few 
minds were, perhaps, far-seeing enough to contemplate 
the crusades as they have been viewed by modern his- 
tory: as a blow struck at the heart of the Mohammedan 
power; as a political diversion of the tide of war from 
the frontiers of the European kingdoms to Asia." * 

But however imperfect may be our vision into the 
unrevealed future, we have prophetic intimations of the 
outline of the divine procedure with those who use and 
those who abuse the civil governments of this world. 
This will come to be noticed in the sixth vial epoch. 

We follow the crusades under this (third) vial only 
to about A. D. 1189. 

* Milmau's Latin C?iristianity, vol. iv, p. 33. 



The Vial Epochs. 139 



CHAPTER YIII. 

THE YIAL EPOCHS.— Continued. 
Fourth Yial. 

Tlie Fourth Ylal Epoch is thus announced: "And 
the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and 
power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 
And men were scorched with great heat, and blas- 
phemed tlie name of God, wdiicli hath power over these 
plagues: and they repented not to give him glory." 
Rev. xvi, 8, 9. 

" The sun is put, in sacred prophecy, for the whole 
species and race of kings in the kingdom, or kingdoms, 
of the world politic, shining with regal power and glory. 
Darkening, smiting, or setting of the sun is put for 
the ceasing of a kingdom, or for the desolation thereof, 
proportional to the darkness and the scorching heat of 
the sun, for vexatious wars, persecutions, and troubles 
inflicted by the king." * Such a construction is given 
to tlie same symbol in Isa. xxiv, 6. •' Therefore hath 
the curse devouied the earth, and they that dwell 
therein are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the 
earth are turned and few oneii left.''"' The same figure 
is found, Matt, xiii, 5, 6, 21. The seed that fell on 
stony ground, " When the sun was kj) loas scorched, 
and because it had no root, icithered away.'''' It makes 
no difference whether tlie desolation is literally caused 
by the sun or some other agency, it is sufiicient to know 

*Sir Isaac Xcwton on Daniel, Book II, p. 17. Quoted by Lowman 
on Eev. xvi. 8. 



140 ESCHATOLOGT. 

that the inevitable doom of blight, or smiting, is upon 
the antichristian nations; still as the literal sun appears 
to be the dispenser of organic life and light, so the 
withdrawment or increase of these are naturally fol- 
lowed by the more universal and effective ruin. "We 
may understand this * scorching men with fire so that 
they were scorched with great heat,' as a prediction 
that the judgments of God should reach his enemies in 
every place [and from every direction] ; for the host of 
heaven and seasons of the year should fight against 
them, and smite them with destruction, so that they 
should find no room to escape." * 

It must be kept in mind, as we have already stated, 
that we are compelled to keep within the standing 
imagery and limitations of the prophet; namely, the 
facts which favor and those which oppose the kingdom 
of Christ; giving, not a full history, but so much only 
as would justify the true import of the sacred text. 

It is to be specially noticed that in the text the Avord 
translated " scorched " does not denote immediate death 
as the characteristic of the epoch, but distress, vexation, 
2^erplexity, and, without repentance, with ultimate death. 
This is so stated in the text, where the final result of 
their trouble is charged to be that " they blasphemed 
the name of God, and they repented not to give God 
glory." A process of perplexing reformatory judg- 
ments preceded terrible executions. Gibbon says, 
"If the ninth and tenth centuries were the times of 
darkness, the thirteenth and fourteenth were the ages 
of absurdity and fable." Nothing is gained to the un- 
repenting nations -by experience of the past. "They 
know not, neither will they understand; they walk on 
in darkness: all the foundations of the earth [of their 

* Sir Isaac Newton on Daniel, Book IT, p. It. Quoted by Lowman 
on Rev. xvi, 8. 



The Yial Epochs. 141 

government] are out of course." Psa. Ixxxii, 5. It is a 
marked feature of the centuries now under consider- 
ation that the popes and the supreme civil authorities 
are perplexed — \ve may say distressed — to know how 
to dispose of the dissenting, non-conforming portions 
of the people. On the one hand they are persecuted 
with unrelenting cruelty ; on the other hand the wit- 
nessing Church is increasing with alarming rapidity; 
on the one hand the civil rulers are not agreed in senti- 
ment as to the moral justice of such persecutions; on 
the other hand if they refuse to execute those who are 
condemned of heresy the pope has power to dissolve 
allegiance to his lord or king, and" not a crowned head 
in Europe would dare to force obedience. These were 
" scorching " conditions. 

We have already noticed the first three crusades, 
and we now finish our further and final reference to the 
last four. The time extending over these four crusades 
is about sixty-seven years, from A. D. 1203 to 1270. 
The recital of the bloody scenes of this period may be 
briefly stated, as it offers little to instruct or entertain. 

The fourth crusade was fitted out in the year 1202, 
under Baldwin, Count of Flanders, consisting of about 
forty thousand men. The object of this crusade was 
different from all others, in that, instead of a religious 
war, they proposed to capture Constantinople and end 
the empire of the East. This they did. Constantinople 
was taken for the first time, and sacked and j^lundered 
by the Christians. This was in accord with the policy 
of the pope, as then he would become the head of the 
Eastern Church, as he was already of the Western. 
But- the victory Avas of short duration. The Grecian 
cities allied with the Turks and dethroned the new em- 
peror Baldwin, putting him to a most cruel death. Of 
all the numbers who engaged in this expedition few 



142 ESCHATOLOGY. 

found their way into the Holy Land, and nothing Avas 
gained in the war against the infidels. 

Disastrous and abortive as were the previous cru- 
sades, the zeal for another, the fifth expedition, was 
unabated. Accordingly, another army of two hun- 
dred thousand " excellent troops " was raised, and its 
force directed to Egypt, intending to approach Jeru-. 
salem by the way of Egypt, the great granary of the 
East. But this purpose also was defeated, the army 
being deluged by the overflow of the Nile, into which 
they were treacherously led, on the one side, while 
their ships and transports were burned on tl^e other. 
In this condition of things the crusaders sought and 
obtained a cessation of arms by treaty which recognized 
the total failure of the expedition. 

Louis IX. of France raised the last two crusades. 
The Christian cause in the East was almost extinct. A 
few places on the sea-coast of Palestine remained, held 
by a feeble tenure. " Their affairs were, on the whole, 
in a most wretched situation." * Four years Avere em- 
ployed in preparation of the expedition, and sixty tliou- 
sand men were received as an enforcement of his army. 
But half of his immense army perished by sickness, and 
the other half was defeated in battle and taken prison- 
ers. Louis himself was among the prisoners ; but by 
a princely ransom he was liberated, and he returned to 
his kingdom. Here ends the sixth crusade. 

At the end of thirteen years Louis is again seized 
with a strange frenzy to lead out another crusade. 
The pope, as usual, encouraged the enterprise. The 
object was the conversion to Christianity of the Moors, 
and their method was to seize the dominions of the 
king of Tunis, and so make the conversion to Christian- 
ity of that prince and his people the condition of peace. 
* Tytler. 



The Vial Epochs. 143 

Such had been the policy of Charlemagne with the 
Saxons. But instead of subduing the Moors the Chris- 
tians themselv^es were besieged in their camp by the 
Moors, and the unfortunate Louis, after losing one of 
his sons by the plague, fell a victim himself to the same 
distemper." * The farce was now ended. The rage of 
crusades was over. " Some few of the Christian troops 
who survived that mortal contagion were brought back to 
Europe. In those two unfortunate expeditions of Louis 
IX. it is computed that there perished one hundred thou- 
sand men." The sum total of lives thrown away upon 
these impracticable, absurd, and most irreligious cru- 
sades, has been commonly computed at two millions. 
And if we would approach the probable aggregate of 
mortality and misery which was induced by other wars, 
such as the extension of Eastern provinces conquered 
by Saladin; the invasion of the East by the saA^age Cariz- 
mians ; the endless and bitter quarrels and civil wars 
of the Christian nations East and West, often more 
savage than foreign war ; when to these and such like 
we add the miseries of domestic homes, made desolate 
by poverty, want, and widowhood — we say, when all 
things are considered, we might add another million to 
the list of mortality. Consider also that these crusades 
were the secret policy of the papacy for extending pa- 
pal authority. 

We are still in the fourth vial epoch, and we open 
the page of Christian mnrtyrology. In the beginning 
of the thirteenth century it becomes publicly known that 
great numbers of Waldenses and Albigenses are in the 
country of Toulouse, France, and vast provisions are 
made to quell their growth and exterminate their ex- 
istence. During the first thirty years of this century 
it is computed that a million of persons were put to 
* Tjtler. 



144 ESCHATOLOGY. 

death as heretics. In 1232 the Inquisition was brought 
into Aragon, " and for the space of a century and a 
half measures of the greatest rigor were incessantly 
carried on against the Waldenses in that quarter before 
their entire extinction could be effected." * 

During the period of which we now speak the ISTeth- 
erlands f exhibited many shocking scenes of slaughter. 
In the year 1236 more than fifty of the Waldenses were 
either burned or buried alive. 

In the year 1210 twenty-four persons were appre- 
hended in the city of Paris, some of whom were cast 
into prison, and others committed to the flames. 

In Montreal, near Carcassone, a proposition was made 
between the Waldenses and the papists to publicly dis- 
cuss their differences of doctrine, and umpires should 
determine the result. But in the midst of the debate 
the pope's legate announced that " the army of the cru- 
saders loas at hand^'' The pope's army came to decide 
upon the doctrine, not by argument, but by fire and 
fagot. " The armies employed by Pope Innocent III. 
destroyed above two hundred thousand of them in the 
short space of a few months." The proposed contro- 
versy just mentioned proved a decoy to entrap the 
Waldenses. It proved so, says Jones, " if we may place 
any reliance upon writers of unimpeachable veracity." 

"About 1232 a synod was convened at Tarragona, 
when many severe decrees were passed against heretics, 
and for the space of a century and a half measures of 
the greatest rigor were incessantly carried on against 
the Waldenses in that quarter before their entire ex- 
tinction could be effected." \ 

The Waldenses continued to increase throughout 
Germany, despite obstacles, during the thirteenth and 
fourteenth centuries. Four hundred and forty-three 
* Jones. t Flanders. % Jones. 



The Vial Epochs. 145 

were apprehended by the inquisitors in Saxony and 
Poineroy in the year 1391, who confessed that their 
teachers came from Bohemia, and that they and their 
ancestors before them had been histructed in the prin- 
ciples they now held. 

In 1457 a great number of the AYaldenses were dis- 
covered by the inquisitors in the diocese of Eistein, in 
Germany, who were put to death, and who confessed 
that they had among them twelve barbes, or pastors, 
who labored in the work of the ministry. In short, 
Trithemius relates it as an acknowledged fact tliat in 
those days the Waldenses were so numerous that in 
traveling from Cologne to Milan, the whole extent of 
Germany, they could lodge every night with persons 
of their own profession, and that it was a custom among 
them to affix certain private marks to their signs and 
gates, whereby they made themselves known to one 
another. 

"In the year 1334 the monks of the Inquisition who 
were deputed to search after the Waldenses appre- 
hended one hundred and fourteen of them at Paris, 
who were burned alive. It is also related by the au- 
thor of a work entitled. The Sea of Mysteries, that in 
the year 1378, the persecution against the Waldenses 
continuing, a vast number of them were burned in the 
* Place de Grave,' in Paris. Two years after this, 
namely, in 1380, we find Francis Borelli, an inquisitor- 
ial monk, armed with a bull of Pope Clement VIL, un- 
dertaking the persecution of the Waldenses in the 
same quarter. In the space of thirteen years he deliv- 
ered into the hands of the civil magistrates of Grenoble 
one hundred and fifty persons to be burned as heretics; 
and in the valley of Fraissiniere he apprehended eighty 
more, who were also committed to the flames." * 
* Jones. 



146 ESCHATOLOGY. 

It will appear to the attentive reader that, in the 
earlier straggles of the Waldenses and Albigenses to 
escape from the merciless grasp of the popes and their 
myrmidons, they fled to the adjacent regions of France 
and Spain. But in later times they migrated northward 
and eastward, in Germany and Austria, and they re-ap- 
pear in the provinces of Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, and 
partially in England. Wherever they went they sowed 
the seed of gospel truth, and thousands were converted 
to the true faith. The popes and their supporters won- 
dered how it could be that the more these suffering 
churches were persecuted the more they increased. But 
banishment into new countries only widened the sphere 
of gospel labor, and sowing the gospel seed. As it was 
in early apostolic times, "they that were scattered 
abroad [by persecution] went every- where preaching the 
word." Acts viii, 4. 

Then, also, from time to time the Lord raised up men 
of special gifts to preach and teach. These boldly pro- 
claimed the truth, and fearlessly rebuked and exposed 
the crimes and vices of the monks and clergy, the rulers 
and common people. Among the noted gifts were 
those of Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, who 
left all to preach Jesus, and used his vast wealth in the 
varied demands of his calling. He died in Bohemia in 
1170. Robert Greathood, Bishop of Lincoln, England, 
a learned and godly man — died 1253. John Ziska was 
from a noble family, renowned for his wisdom, courage, 
love of country, and the fear of God. He identified 
himself fully, and with great usefulness, to the doctrines 
of civil and religious liberty. He died in 1424. 

John Wiclif, of England was born in 1324, and died 
December 28, 13 84. He was famous for his learning, 
his piety, his fearless attacks upon the vice and corrup- 
tions of the Roman Catholic Church, and for his English 



The Vial Epochs. 147 

tranylation of the Bible.* He is reputed and styled the 
morning star of tlie Lutheran reformation. 

Xot long after the death of Wiclif there appeared 
upon the scene John Huss, and closely upon him Jerome 
of Prague, an intimate friend and companion of Huss. 
As reformers the two latter did not go quite as far into 
the Romish corruptions as the Waldenses did, but their 
doctrines Avere fundamental, and longer time for devel- 
opment would have made the dissent from Rome more 
complete. Both Huss and Jerome were model reformers. 
Learned, pious, unselfish, devoted to true spiritual re- 
ligion and thorough reform in the Romish Church, they 
met the dangers of their commission without fear, and 
its stern morals without compromise. Li the full tide 
of their labors and success our heroes were arrested, 
and by orders of the Council of Constance, then in ses- 
sion, were condemned to be burned alive. Huss was 
executed July 1, 1415, and Jerome May 20, 141 G. 
Nicholas of Basle was a man of great influence, but 
was burned at the stake in Vienna. John Tauler, born 
in Strasburg 1290, died 1361. Many leading men stood 
forth in these perilous times, inspiring the masses of 
inquirers with courage and fidelity. Since the end of 
the thirteenth century Germany, especially in the south, 
had been subject to religious commotions. Men w^ere 
agitated to know what was the true religion. Li 1340 
one, a layman, professing to have found the light, came 
one hundred and twenty miles to Strasburg, to consult 
Tauler on the subject. The interview was searching, 
and the layman instructed the humble university doctor 
in the inner life, thus proving a great blessing in his 
gospel labors. The people were burdened with forms 
and penances, but found no rest or spiritual light. 

A new^ society Avas formed, denominated " The Friends 
* See Townley's Biblical Literature, vol. i, p. 418. 



148 ESCHATOLOGY. 

of God," the title being grounded in the words of Christ, 
"Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command 
you." John xv, 14. This was not so much a distinct 
sect as an effort to attain the spiritual development of 
forms and doctrines and churchly impositions. It was 
a reaching out and inwardly to find something higher 
and better than the bare externality of Romish churchly 
forms. It did not attack the hierarchy, but conforming 
to it passed over to the question, Is there not a spiritual, 
life-imparting principle in which the soul finds rest ? 

Many sought and found rest. Others went on be- 
yond the limit and warrant of Holy Scripture, and 
fell in "wandering mazes lost" in mysticism and 
scholasticism. 



The Yial Epochs. 149 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE YIAL EPOCHS.— Continued. 
The Fifth A^ial. 

I. The Fifth Vial Epoch is thus gw en: "And the fifth 
angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; 
and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed 
their tungues for pain, and blasphemed the God of 
heaven because of their pains and their sores, and re- 
pented not of their deeds." Rev. xvi, 10-11. 

The literal rendering is better, thus : "And he 
poured out his vial upon the throne of the loild heast.^'' 
" Throne''"' (Ogovog) is symbolic of supreme authority, 
or the place where it is dispensed. The word beast, as 
a translation of 67]qlov, theriou, does not meet either 
thi force of the word or that of the connection. An 
animal maybe a beast, and still be harmless and useful; 
but a icild beast, or a savage beast, as it commonly sig- 
nifies, could alone meet the sense here. It occurs thirty- 
eight times in the Apocalypse, always in a bad sense 
— as of a ferocious beast. There is not in Scripture a 
symbol whose import is better defined than this of the 
apocalyptic beast. Let any English reader take his 
concordance and turn to the word beast,'^ and mark 

*The reader will imderstaBd that in seventeen places (namely, 
Ptcv. iv, 6-9; v, 6, 8, 11, 14; vi, 1, 3, 5-7; vii, 11; xiv, 3; xv, Y; 
xix, 4) the word translated '"beast" in our English Bible is a totally- 
different word from that which we are now considering. The one, 
as we have already stated, signifies " wild beast," Or^piov, and is to be 
a terror to the Clmrcli and the Christian world for twelve hundred 
and sixty years; the otlier s'gnifies a ''livvig creature, ^uov, and is 



150 ESCHATOLOGY. 

what the Bible says of this creature, and he will per- 
ceive at once it is evil, and only evil, filling the sphere 
of prophetic vision with deeds of carnage and corrup- 
tion. In chapter xvii, 12, 13, 16, this personage is iden- 
tified; also, in her various appellations of "harlot," 
"Babylon the Great, mother of harlots," her bloody 
persecutions of the saints, and her fearful and final 
downfall. Chaps, xvii and xviii. In all these the iden- 
tity of this "mystery of iniquity" is clearly seen, "as 
face answers to face in a glass." We shall not, there- 
fore, enlarge upon the arguments at this time which 
the Protestant world admits and the inspired apostle 
takes such care to bring within the scope of our under- 
standing, but shall at once apply the symbolic "wild 
beasts" of the fifth vial to the Romish hierarchy^ repre- 
sented in the person of the pope in his blashemous as- 
sumptions and usurpations. 

The act of "pouring out the vial upon the seat of the 
beast " is, therefore, a symbolic act, signifying that the 
judgments of the fifth vial epoch are to be concentrated 
upon the beast, or hierarchal system and functionaries 
of the Romish Church, and also whether any adequate 
evidence of such wrathful dispensation appears upon 
the page of history within the assigned limits of the 
epoch. It will be seen that the symbolism of the vision 
does not call for war, though that is involved, but it 
describes great confusion and agony of the beast. The 
kingdom of the " beast " was " full of darkness." " As 
light is the symbol of joy and gladness, so, on the con- 
trary, darkness is the symbol of misery and adver- 

ahvays associated with the throne of God, or the functionaries near 
the throne. The radical idea of its sig-nilication is Uve^ or to live, and 
should always be translated living ones, or living creatures, never 
heasis, as in our Engli>8h version. See Rev. iv, 6-0; v, 6, 8, 11, 14.; 
xiv, 3; XV, 7; xix, 4, etc. 



The Yial Epochs. 151 

sity." * Isaiah gives the figurative import of darkness 
in the antithetic verse, chapter lix, 9, 10. 

" We look for light, but beliold obscurity ; 
For brightness, but we walk in darkness, 
"We grope for the wall like the blind, 
And we grope as if w^e had no eyes ; 
We stumble at noonday as in the night, 
"We are m desolate places as dead men." 

It was not an intellectual obscuration merely, though 
that Avould have been a sore distress in a case like this, 
but a moral one, in which the good and the right are 
neither sought nor desired, and the wretched victim is 
left to grapple alone with penal consequences which 
now must take their course with unerring vengeance. 
The several items of the text are given with wonderful 
precision : the kingdom of the beast is " full of dark- 
ness," " they gnawed their tongues for pain," " they blas- 
phemed the God of heaven," "their pains," "their 
sores" — all indicating unw^onted anguish of spirit, con- 
fusion of mental operations, and great perplexity in the 
beast and his subalterns. 

" We cannot be surprised at the fact that among the 
friends of God there were many sectional differences, 
from a more strict churchly direction, to a tendency 
bordering on the heretical, or entirely heretical." f 

The profession of these new societies, though in 
themselves loyal to Church forms and doctrines, and 
aiming at a higher spiritual standard, could not be tol- 
erated. They could not disguise the fact that their 
pure and spiritual doctrine stood in open rebuke of the 
licentious lives of the clergy, and had the eifect to call 
public attention thereto. Many, like Tauler, went to 
the stake on that issue. It was an age of agitation, both 
in politics and religion: " Men's hearts failing them for 
* "Wcmjss. f Xeandcr's Church History, vol. v, p. 389. 



152 ESCHATOLOGY. 

fear, and for looking after those things which are com- 
ing on tho earth: for the powers of heaven shall be 
shaken." hvke xxi, 26. 

The spirit of deep inquiry as to the true religion or 
the true worahip, and as to the right of all men to be- 
lieve and openly profess their moral convictions without 
let or hinderance, under protection of law, was taking 
fast hold of the common mind. Men began to think 
and feel in tie direction of moral rights and freedom. 
But in the wide world there w^as not a government 
that protected freedom of religious thought and faith; 
and the ruling religious power in Europe held it not 
only admissible, but a high moral duty, to inflict tor- 
ture and death upon all who deviated from the papal 
rule. 

We have now ariived at the opening of the Reforma- 
tion, in the former part of the fifteenth century, in the 
presence of Martin Luther, his friends and liis enemies; 
and, although the epoch is stamped with his wonderful 
individuality, other actors still appeared with gifts suited 
to the exigencies of the age, to illuminate the page of 
this eventful world-power which God has given to men. 
From the results of the fifth vial, in which antichrist is 
openly met and in his central throne of power broken? 
never to be regained, the Church of Christ steadfastly 
looks forward to the completion of the final victory in 
full millennial glory. 

It is impossible for us here to give a full statement of 
the characteristics of the apocalyptic antichrist. These 
will be given in their place. But against all Christian 
principles the Roman pontiff assumes and usurps the 
supreme power over the consciences of men, determin- 
ing what is right and enforcing by civil penalties and 
horrible tortures any deviation therefrom. The indi- 
vidual cannot, under pain of death or torture, accept 



The Vial Epochs. 153 

any doctrine or worship which the pope pronounces 
"heresy;" that is, that deviates from the papal stand- 
ard. Here, then, is the primal issue between the papal 
and Protestant religion — between Christ and antichrist. 
First of all, the battle must be" fought over the thresh- 
old of gospel liberty — "freedom to worship God;" a 
concession of right to Avorship God according to one's 
own conscience, not merely as an act of toleration, 
which implies the right vested in the sovereign or an 
ecclesiastic to be delegated to men by government, or 
of individual discretion, but a right given by the Cre- 
ator direct to every man; for the use of which he is 
accountable to God and not to man. 

Eight hundred years before Luther's day men pro- 
tested against the corruptions of the Catholic Church 
and the horrid cruelties begun against those who preached 
a purer Gospel. But three hundred years prior to Luther 
the horrible massacres took on a new type of severity 
through the Inquisition, nnd carried things beyond all 
precedent in the world's history. The popes rioted in 
blood. No language can describe it; no pity could 
interfere without incurring the same inevitable doom. 

But in all tliis fearful sufiPering the persecuted Church, 
like as those Avho fled before Saul of Tarsus, " went 
every-where preaching the word," so that the dispersion 
only widened the field of gospel labor. Despite all 
opposition, the truth prevailed. 

Then, also, kings and magnates began to dissent. 
Many began to doubt the rights assumed by the popes, 
and to withhold co-operation with the Inquisition and its 
baleful jurisdiction. And it was this very fact thnt 
put the popes in such terror and perplexity. The light 
began to dawn; yea, further, it had in Luther's time 
already dawned on the Western world, and no power of 
men or demons could repress its heavenly influent beams. 
11 



154 ESCHATOLOGY. 

There was perceptibly forming a public sentiment as a 
glimmering light of true religion, penetrating through 
the crevices of the old and effete superstitions, and in- 
viting to a free and liberal Christianity. Satan, how- 
ever, will rage, " because he knoweth that he hath but 
a short time." " And the great dragon was cast out, 
that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, Avhich de- 
ceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the 
earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I 
heard a loud voice saying in heaven. Now is come 
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, 
and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our 
brethren is cast down, which accused them before our 
God day and night." See Rev. xii, 9, 10, 12.* 

Two facts of vast import will suffice to determine our 
argument as to the place and time of the epoch of the 
fifth vial. The first is the peace of Westphalia, A. D. 
1648. This treaty terminated a thirty years' religious 
war, and laid a firm foundation of religious freedom 
in Germany and other States; "the three religions — 
Catholic, Lutlieran, and Calvinist — were equally estab- 
lished. The imperial chamber was composed of twen- 
ty-four Protestant members, and twenty-six Catholic, 
and the emperor Avas obliged to admit six Protestants, 
even in his aulic (council at Vienna. . . . This salutary 
peace settled all disputes, and fixed the contending 
religions upon an unalterable basis; and from that time 
Germany, gradually recovering from her wounds and 
misfortunes, at length became a great, a powerful, and 
a polished nation." f In the treaty itself it is recorded 
that, "For preventing any disputes that may hereafter 
arise in the political State, all and every one of the elect- 

* See in chapters vii and viii of this treatise, and its apphcation to 
this epoch. 

f Tytler's History, vol. ii, p. 252. 



The YiAL Epochs. 155 

ors, princes, and States of the Roman Empire ought to be 
so confirmed by virtue of this treaty, in their ancient 
rights, in. matters ecclesiastical and political in their 
dominions, in their rights of legality, and in the posses- 
sion of all these together, that no person may have it 
in his power to give them actual molestation on any 
pretense whatever. They shall, icithout any contradic- 
tion^ enjoy the primlege of suffrage in all deliberations 
concerning the right of the empire, particularly when 
laics are to he made or interpreted. . . . None of these, 
or others of the like kind, shall be undertaken or per- 
mitted without the suffrage and free consent of all the 
States of the empire assembled in the diet. They shall, 
above all things, have the perpetual right of making 
alliances between themselves and foreigners for their 
own preserA^ation and security, provided, nevertheless, 
that such alliances are not directed against the emperor 
and empire, against the public peace, or against the 
present transaction in particular; and that they do not 
in any ways infringe the oath which they have all 
taken to the emperor or empire."* 

The influence of this treaty extended far beyond the 
limits of the German Empire, as we shall see. 

The second great fact, of world-wide importance and 
of determinate beaiing on our argument, is in the great 
secession of the nations of Europe from the Romish 
sovereignt}^ and communion. Within the j^eriod we have 
assigned for the fifth vial epoch (about A. D. 1483-1648) 
there seceded from the spiritual and political autocracy 
of the popes, and ranged under the common title of 
Protestants, the following nations; namely, Germany, 
England, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switz- 
erland, and gi'eat numbers in France. The moral in- 
fluence of this example in favor of religious liberty 
* Tyiler's Iliatory. vol. ii, p. 452. 



156 ESCIIATOLOGY. 

affected a, much wider sphere. The " throne of the 
beast" was "full of darkness," and "they gnawed 
their tongues for pain," and they " blasphemed the God 
of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and 
they repented not of their deeds." 

Prior to the period now under consideration, no king, 
for five hundred years, dared to incur the displeasure of 
the pope by disobedience to his commands; or, if other- 
wise, the obstinate potentate is excommunicated, the 
allegiance of his subjects annulled, and all persons for- 
bidden to give him food or shelter. Any person offer- 
ing food, shelter, or aid, would incur the severest 
penalties. If the convict king or sovereign repent, the 
penalties or penances imposed would be severe^ often 
little less than death or torture. 



The Vial Epochs. 15' 



CHAPTER X. 

THE YIAL EPOCHS.— Continued. 
The Sixth YiaL 

Tlie Sixth Vial Period is thus announced by tlie 
angel: "And the si,xth angel poured out his vial upon 
the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was 
dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might 
be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the 
mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false 
prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working 
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and 
of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that 
great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. 
Bk ssed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, 
lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he 
gathered them together into a place called in the He- 
brew tongue Armageddon." Rev. xvi, 12-16. 

It is clear enough that verse 12 points to a military 
expedition, or expeditions, of vast signification. The 
language is military. The pouring out of the vial 
" ui)on the great river Euphrates " also indicates that 
point as central to the operations of the epoch of the 
sixth vial. The previous vial was European, this is 
Oriental. How far east the movement is to extend we 
cannot positively speak, but the literal form of the lan- 
guage would extend it to the farthest limit of the East * 

* Dr, Francis "W. Upham, in his admirable and learned criticism on 
Matt ii, 1, 2, has made it clear that tlie word translated "eas-^," which 
occurs twice in the place, and being first in the plural {avaTo7iciv^ an- 



158 ESCHATOLOGY. 

as known in any age. This is indicated by the plural 
form of the word "cas^." The ''drying np' of the 
river Euphrates is for the removal of obstructions to 
the onward march of the Eastern army, " that the way 
of the kings of the East might be prepared." The 
transportation of large armies, with their military bag- 
gage, across the Euphrates and Tigris, would be a se- 
rious delay and exposure. The drying up of the river 
removes the obstruction and "prepares" for the pas- 
sage of the " kings of the East." The plural form, 
" kings of the East," would properly denote a general 
Oriental combination or alliance moving westward, pass- 
ing the Euphrates, as if to meet the opposing army 
somewhere in Asia Minor. Indeed, it is an Oriental 
question to be settled within the general purview of 
the East — a question of civilization and religion — 
whether the dark and obstinate Islamism or Christ, the 
King of glory, shall reign. Tyrants and autocrats have 
never been willing to part with their irresponsible 
power, and have done it only by political or military 
force. Between Euphrates and the Bosphorus the ques- 
tion must be settled; and, as Mohammedanism is tlie 
most obstinate enemy of the cross in Asia, and as it is 
repeatedly alluded to in the Apocalypse (see chap, 
xix, 20, and xx, 10) in connection with the " beast" and 
other world forces of evil ; and as it is in perfect pi'o- 
priety of connection, after speaking of the " beast " in 

atoloon) and the second in the singular {avarolrj^ anatole)^ sliould be 
translated thus: "Behold there came wise men from the far east 
to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is lie that is born King of the Jews, for 
we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him." 
The East he would call Babylonia ; the Fa?- East, Persia. (See Dr. Up- 
ham's book, entitled, TJie Wise Men, etc., chapters i and ii.) But later 
changes have extended our knowledge of the East, and what might 
have seemed a limitation of the l^'ast by Persia might better be ap- 
plied now to the eastern limit of China. 



The Vial Epochs. 159 

the previous "vial" (vers. 10, 11), to speak of the "false 
prophet " as next in order of the world forces which are 
to be subordinated to the King Messiah's dominion, 
therefore it is highly probable that Islamism is the bur- 
den of the prophet's utterances in the sixth vml epoch. 

It is proper here to remind the reader that we are 
now living in the latter part of the epoch of the sixth 
vial, as we interpret biblical chronology. We cannot, 
therefore, speak of matters in extenso, or much beyond 
the most probable import of the symbols; for it is a 
universal law of interpretation of prophecy, and specially 
of symbolical prophecy, that history is the interpreter 
of prophecy. We must, therefore, wait the orderly 
procession of liistory for a full development and com- 
pletion of the oracle. 

We proceed, then, to offer what we may be able to 
gather from the symbols and other allusions. On verse 
13 the prophet says: "And I saw three unclean spirits, 
like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and 
out of the mouth of tlie beast, and out of the mouth of 
the false prophet." Verse 13. Here is a statement of 
the allied forces of antichrist; namely, first, the " dragon" 
power, or secular power, which is servility to the 
" beast; " secondly, the "beast," or ecclesiastical force, 
the apostate Church ; and, thirdly, the " false prophet," 
or Mohammed. Tlie first and second are allied against 
the latter, and all are against the Lord Christ. These 
three forces come '^ out of the mouth^'' of the triple 
world forces, that is, they legislate — make and de- 
clare law — whether in a state of war or peace. They 
are " the spirits of devils [demons] working miracles ; " 
that is, wo7'kbig venders, as the word Grj/ieia, semeia, 
often means, and should be thus translated here. Ver. 14. 
A wonder is not always a miracle. " These go forth 
unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world." 



160 ESCHATOLOGY. 

" Kings of the cartli " are kings not in covenant with 
Christ, earth-born. The designation is clear. " Kings 
of the whole world " indicates the extent of their do- 
minion as being world-wide, and the policy of these evil 
spirits is to concentrate their forces in one great final 
battle, or in a rapid succession of battles, thinking that 
numbers will prevail. And this was often the case in 
those times. " And he gathered them together into a 
place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Ver. 
16. John quotes this last word with a slight variation 
from the Old Testament — the difference of plam of 
Meglddo for mountain or hill of Megiddo. In 2 Chron, 
XXXV, 22, and Zech. xii, 11, it is simply " Megiddo." It 
was situated on the borders of the plain of Esdraelon, 
Palestine, and famous for the battles fought in its 
plains, especially that wherein the good king Josiah 
w^as slain, and to which the prophet refers thus: "And 
Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men 
and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamen- 
tations to this day, and made them an ordinance in 
Israel." 2 Chron. xxxv, 25. Thus, when they would 
speak of a great national calamity, or national sorrow, 
they would speak proverbially, and say, " In that day 
shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the 
mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.^^ 
Zech. xii, 11. "The name Armageddon," says Dr. Rob- 
inson, " therefore stands emblematically for a place of 
slaughter and mourning y^ 

" This plain," says Dr. E. D. Clarke, " has been a 
chosen place for encampment in every contest carried 
on in this country from the days of Nebuchodonosor, 
King of Assyria [A.M. 3348, see Judith iii, 8-10], until 
the disastrous march of Napoleon Bonaparte from 
Egypt into Syria [A. D. 1799]. Jews, Gentiles, Sara- 
* Lexicon on the word. 



The Vial Epochs. 161 

cens, Christian crusaders and antichristian, Egyptians, 
Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs — warriors out of 
every nation which is under heaven — have pitched their 
tents upon the plains of Esdraelon, and have beheld the 
various banners of their nations wet with the dews of 
Tabor and of Hermon." 

It is sufficiently clear that Megiddo is the place alluded 
to, whether figuratively or literally. If the latter, it 
would be but probable that the forces should meet at 
the plain of Megiddo as a central point for the " Far 
East " and the European West. But in either case the 
central powers of the earth are met for decisive battle. 
The reference to " the great river Euphrates " marks it 
as being what is called in its broadest sense " the East- 
ern question," and the delusive question over which 
the world forces are equally interested, and equally an- 
tagonistic to the Lord Messiah. And these hostile pow- 
ers are now met for decisive action. They are three: 
the " dragon " power, or political powers not submitted 
to Christ; the ^^heast,^^ or papal power, and Islamism, 
or "the false prophet." By these the powers of anti- 
christ will be broken. 



162 ESCHATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE VIAL EPOCHS.— Continued. 
The Seventh Vial. 

The seventh and last vial is thus stated by the angel: 
" And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the 
air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of 
heaven, from the throne, saying. It is done. And there 
were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was 
a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon 
the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And 
the great city was divided into three parts, and the cit- 
ies of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in re- 
membrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the 
wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island 
fled away, and the mountains were not found. And 
there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every 
stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed 
God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague 
thereof was exceeding great." Rev. xvi, 17-21. 

Keeping in mind that we are in advance of history, 
and have been so since the early part of the preceding 
vial, we must finish our task by gathering up the items 
of symbolism and correlations which the text affords. 
It is a remarkable feature of the last three vials — first, 
that they mark a closing in of the ranks of the hostile 
nations as being intensive of the judgments; secondly, 
that they concentrate the judgments directly upon the 
antichristian powers. Thus the fifth vial is poured out 
*' upon the seat of the 5e«sif." Yer. 10. Unmistakably 
the beast is the papal autocracy. The sixth vial is 



The Vial Epochs. 163 

directed also to the secular power or powers as sup- 
portive of the religious supremacy, which, being located 
in the East, must be Mohammedan. Yer. 12. The 
seventh vial, as the sj^mbols indicate, was poured out 
upon " great Babylon " (the papal supremacy), which 
now " came in remembrance before God, to give unto 
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." 
Yer. 19. 

The seventh vial "was poured out into the air." The 
figurative signification of this act may be, that God 
holds the forces of the atmosphere under his control, to 
protect or destroy, and can direct them at will. Thus, 
immediately after the pouring the vial in the air, " there 
came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from 
the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, 
and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great 
earthquake. . . . And there fell upon men a great hail 
out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent : 
and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the 
hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." 
Yers. 18, 21. These are atmospheric phenomena, indi- 
cating that the air is the seat of some great and unex- 
plained power and destiny, traveling rapidly as if of 
almost ubiquitous speed, " as the lightning cometh out 
of the east, and shineth even to the west " (Matt, xxiv, 
27); and hence called the seat of "the prince of the 
power of the air." Ej^h. ii, 2. God's judgments are 
mysterious and marvelously executed. The pouring out 
of the vial into the air may be, therefore, an expression 
of the mysterious forces in nature and the rapidity of 
their operations when God arises to judgment. 

When the seventh vial was poured out into the air, 
as we have just said, there came a great voice out of 
the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, " It is 
clone.'''* This is the fundamental idea of the seventh 



164 ESCHATOLOGY. 

trumpet. It announces that some great work is accom- 
plished, but does not clearly specify what, leaving us to 
infer from a comparison of statements. Undoubtedly 
it means that the specific object, or objects, of the sev- 
enth vial epoch are accomplished; but what are they? 
If we turn to chapter x, 7, we find the first mention of 
the seventh trumpet epoch, with its particular work as- 
signed. Thus: "In the daj^s of the voice of the sev- 
enth angel, when he shall begin to sound, the 'mystery 
of God shall he finished, as he hath declared to his 
servants the prophets." In chapter xi, 15, it is record- 
ed, in close connection with chapter x, 7, " The seventh 
angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, 
saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
doms of our Lord and of his Christ." This subjuga- 
tion of the kingdoms to Christ is not a universal con- 
version, but signifies that Christian law prevails, and 
freedom to worship God according to moral conviction 
and individual accountability meets no persecution or 
opposition by legal authority. In the fifteenth chapter 
of Revelation this subject is recalled. The prophet saw 
"seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in 
them is filled up the wrath of God." This is the first 
announcement that the seventh trumpet epoch is re- 
solved into seven vials of wrath. They are thus called, 
''^ for in them is filled up the wrath of God ;'^'' that is, 
the severe judgments of God against the enemies of the 
cross, and of human rights, have at last prevailed and 
established Messiah's kingdom. That this is the import 
of the language is evident from their triumphal chant 
by which they celebrated the victory. Thus : " Just and 
true are thy ways, thou King of saints." " For all na- 
tions shall come and worship before thee; for thy judg- 
ments are made manifest." Chap, xv, 3, 4. Also chap- 
ter xi, 17, 18, bearing upon this same subject, "We give 



The Yial Epochs. 165 

thee thanks, O Lord God Ahnight}^, which art, and Avast, 
and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy 
great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were 
angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, 
that they should be judged [vindicated], and that thou 
shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, 
and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small 
and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy 
the earth." 

Thus the eye of faith and the scope of prophecy had 
looked steadfastly down the ages to that cherished hour 
when, in the language of Daniel, referring to this very 
time, " And the kingdom and dominion, and the great- 
ness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be 
given to the people of the saints of the Most High, 
whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all do- 
minions shall serve and obey him." Dan. vii, 27. Both 
Daniel and John speak clearly of a period of great suf- 
ferings of the Church by the persecuting power of the 
nations, and of this suffering to end in perfect victory. 
This special and noted period of the Church's suffering 
is that of the twelve hundred and sixty years of anti- 
christ ; and this victory is the millennium, as we shall 
soon see. 

The downfall of antichrist, the great burden of the 
seventh vial epoch, is the result and outcome of twelve 
hundred and sixty years of divine forebearance, and of 
patient labor, suffering, and prayer, and projects itself, 
in variable degrees of persuasion, through the ages, ter- 
minating in a fall that no power of earth shall ever 
retrieve, and followed by great and unprecedented ad- 
vances of gospel reformation. The process, as to 
successive order, will be gradual, like the day dawn, 
the rising sun, and in the meridian day. The destruc- 
tion of antichrist is the last great (the greatest) achieve- 



166 ESCHATOLOGY. 

ment under God of the militant Church. In verse 19 
of the sixteenth chapter it is said, '• The great city was 
divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations 
fell." The "great city " is understood to be the mystic 
'' Babylon," and it is immediately added, " Great Baby- 
lon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her 
the cup of wine of the fierceness of his wrath." It is 
in the same connection said, " The cities of the nations 
fell," that is, those cities which had enriched themselves 
by subserviency to the beast, or Babylon, now fell 
from their high position of government, and the domin- 
ion passes into the hands of the saints. 

In all these judgments we do not find a reformative 
influence correspondingly great. To those who still 
adhere to the antichristian party the Gospel is " a savor 
of death unto death." "And there fell upon men a 
great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight 
of a talent [one hundred and twenty-five pounds] : and 
men blasphemed God because of the plague of the 
hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." 
Yer. 21. 

The reader will remember that the whole of the 
seventh vial, and the latter half of the sixth vial, are as 
yet unfulfilled prophecy, which we pass over, except- 
ing that the import of the symbols and the analogy of 
prophecy will supply indices of the most general outline, 
till God shall turn prophecy into history — -"he that runs 
shall read." 



Doom of Babylon. 16' 



CHAPTER XII. 

DOOM OF BABYLON. 

The Great Kejoicing in Heaven — The Triumph of the Gospel — The 
Binding of Satan. 

We have readied Rev. xviii. Nothing can be said, 
on the question of chronology, further than that the 
seventeenth chapter identifies the Roman type of 
antichrist, and that the nineteenth chapter is an en- 
larged form of triumphal ode upon the fall of Babylon ; 
both dating immediately after the seventh vial. Chap, 
xvi, 17-21. The order of thought in the eighteenth 
chapter, the Avail and lament of the downfall of Baby- 
lon, may be thus stated: verses 1-3, an angel of great 
power descends from heaven and proclaims the fall of 
Babylon; verses 4-8, the call upon true Christians to 
come out of Babylon lest they become partakers of her 
sins and punishment; verses 9-19, the wail of those who 
profited by her merchandise; verses 20-23, the true 
Church called to triumph over the just and irreversible 
judgment of God for the fall of this great enemy of 
Christ and his Church; verse 24, the declaration of her 
crimes, and of her persecutions of the Church, " for in 
her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, 
and of all that were slain upon the earth. " 

It will be seen that in verse 1, chapter xviii, John saw 
" another angel come down from heavenP That angel 
was specially directed to publish on earth the facts upon 
which the judgment of God is measured out upon 
antichrist and his followers. \^q are now called to 
transfer the order of victorv from earth to heaven. 



168 ESCHATOLOGY. 

This is stated chapter xix, 1, whence John heard the tri- 
umphal chants. Thus : " And after these things I 
heard a great voice of much people in heaven^ saying, 
Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, 
unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are his 
judgments; for he hath judged the great whore, which 
did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath 
avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And 
again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for 
ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders [or 
princes] and the four living creatures fell down and 
worshiped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen ; 
Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, saying. 
Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, 
both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice 
of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, 
and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Allelu- 
lia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be 
glad and rejoice, and give honor to him : for the mar- 
riage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made her- 
self ready. And to her was granted that she should be 
arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen 
is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, 
Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the mar- 
riage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, 
these are the true sayings of God." * 

Thus in heaven and upon the earth will saints unite 
to celebrate the glorious victories of the cross. We 
must beware here that we do not misjudge our chrono- 
logical position. We are not in the millennium, but in 
the near future of that glorious event. We have little 
else to do but to go up and take possession of the goodly 
land; but a final test is yet to come. That test is in 
the last death throe of the " beast," or antichrist, after 

* The Marriage of the Lamb will be treated in a future chapter. 



Doom of Babylon. 169 

his downfall. The shattered forces of the enemy must 
be recalled and a final effort made to regain the lost. It 
was so in the case of the sixth vial (we are now in the 
eighth vial epoch), in the battle of Armageddon called 
" the battle of that great day of God Almighty " (chap, 
xvi, 14, 16), and it will be so in the great battle of 
"Gog and Magog" (chap, xx, 8, 9), the last upon 
record. 

After the alleluia chants on the occasion of the fall 
of antichrist, immediately the victories of the Lamb are 
urged forward with unabated and unprecedented suc- 
cess. It had been already predicted that the antichris- 
tian forces "shall make war with the Lamb, and the 
Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, 
and King of kings: and they that are with him are 
called, and chosen, and faithful." Chap, xvii, 14. But 
now, upon a grander scale, the victories of the Lamb 
are multiplied, with assured and final success. ^N'o de- 
scription of uninspired human skill can equal that of 
the inspired prophet. He says: "And I saw heaven 
opened, and behold a white borse; and he that sat upon 
him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness 
he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame 
of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had 
a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And 
he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and 
his name is called The Word of God. And the arm- 
ies which were in heaven followed him upon white 
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And 
out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he 
should smite tlie nations; and he shall rule them with a 
rod of iron [that is, the rebellious people]: and he tread- 
eth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Al- 
mighty God. And he hath on his vesture, and on his 
thigh a name written, King of kings^ and Lord of lords." 
12 



170 ESCHATOLOGY. 

Chap, xix, 1 1-16. How long the rhapsodies of this vision 
continued we have no data to determine, but its relative 
position in the order of events is clear enough. Thus, 
after the seventh vial (chap, xvi, 11), follows the de- 
scription and Koman type of the harlot, or antichrist 
(chap, xvii); then the wail of the supporters of antichrist 
(chap, xviii) ; then the alleluia chant in heaven of the 
triumph of the Church (chap, xix, 1-9) ; then the tri- 
umphal progress of the true Church (chap, xix, 11); 
thence the organized opposition of the enemies of the 
Church, a brief and last resistance and overthrow. Chap, 
xix, 17-20. This last is a characteristic description of an 
ancient battle and victory, but must here be taken figu- 
ratively only. Thus the army that followed the con- 
queror "was clothed in fine linen, white and clean," the 
emblem of purity j and the sword of the conqueror 
*' proceeded out of his mouth," a standing symbol for 
the loord and Judgment of God. In no other sense could 
a sword proceed out of the mouth.* Elsewhere the 
qualities of this conquering army of the ages are given: 
" They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth ; " 
" They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the 
word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives 
unto the death;" "These shall make war with the 
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is 
Lord of lords, and king of kings, and they that are with 
him are called, and chosen, and faithful." Chap, xiv, 4, 
and xii, 11, and xvii, 14. 

It should be carefully observed that from the fall of 

* Thus, Isa. xlix, 2, "The Lord Iiath made my mouth hke a sliarp 
sword." Rev. i, 16, " And out of l.is mouth went a sharp two-edged 
sword." And ii, 16, " Out of his mouth went a two-edged sword." 
Heb. iv, 12, " For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper 
than any two-edged sword." Eph. vi, 17, " The sword of the Spirit, 
which is the word of Grod." 



Doom of Babylon. 171 

anticlirist, which dates at the close of the seventh vial 
epoch (chap, xvi, 19), and is there called "Great Baby- 
lon, which came in remembrance before God, to give 
unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of hU 
wrath," to the millennium (chap, xx, 4), is properly a 
transition period, a brief interval, in which, as we have 
seen, the conquest of the nations was completed, the 
marriage of the Lamb announced, and the Gospel greatly 
extended. The ruling^ of the smitten nations " with a 
rod of iron" (ver. 15), applies to those Avho still reject 
the dominion of Christ and his Gospel. These come 
under the iron rule of penal judgment. His "treading 
the wine-press of the wrath of God " is a j^ledge of un- 
bribed and irreversible judgment by Christ himself 
upon all who resist his authority. Justice and judg- 
raient are from him alone. In sliort, as the Gospel 
spreads, and the powerful sway of public sentiment and 
hallowed obedience obtains, the judgments of God will 
grow more clearly self -asserting ("for thy judgments 
«?*e made manifest^'' chap, xv, 4), and correspondingly 
severe upon the rebellious nations. It is the experience 
of the ages that in all great gospel reformations the 
combat thickens and intensifies, as the proposed refor- 
mations are seen to be fundamental to society, and the 
spirit of the reformers is resolute and faithful and un- 
compromising. 

The destruction of the enemies of Christ, here and 
so often referred to, must not be understood in all 
cases as including and denoting their death, but as al- 
ways defeating and destroying their political power, 
by which alone they could persecute and oppose Christ 
and his kingdom, or Church. 

It is not stated how long this quickened impulse of 
spiritual conquest of the King of kings continued, but 
it is clearly indicated that thouorh antichrist ianism v/as 



172 EsCHATOLOGY. 

hopelessly destroyed, as to its organization and its 
power to persecute, still there were elements of unsub- 
dued hostility in many individuals. The living Church 
was in the ascendance, not by force of an imperial edict, 
backed by the terror of a conquering army, as in the 
case of Constantine the Great, A. D. 312, or Charle- 
magne, A. D. 800, but by the all-conquering power of 
spiritual light and moral conviction. External obstruc- 
tions to free and open confession of Christ are now re- 
moved, and men are left free to act and declare their 
Christian beliefs and experience w^ithout hinderance 
from government interference and proscription. But 
enmity to Christ exists in many minds, and it is only in 
accord with wliat we know to have been in similar cases 
in the world's history, that we see the vanquished ene- 
mies of Christ now rallying for a last and desperate 
battle for the recovery of their lost power. The bat- 
tle will be great, desperate, and decisive. The King 
of kings is in the field with his faithful and dauntless 
followers. The battle will be, as to its breadth and in- 
tensity, like that of " Armageddon " (Megiddo, Rev. 
xvi, 16), proverbially great. A defiant angel appears 
and declares the result. The revelator thus describes 
the scene: 

" And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried 
with a loud voice, saying to all the fowds that fly in the 
midst of heaven. Come and gather yourselves together 
unto the supper of the great God ; that ye may eat the 
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh 
of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them 
that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and 
bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and 
the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered to- 
gether to make war against him that sat on the horse, 
and against his army. And the beast was taken, and 



Doom of Babylon. 173 

with liim the false prophet that wrought miracles [or 
signs] before him, with which he deceived them that 
had received the mark of the beast, and them that wor- 
shiped his image. These both were cast alive into a 
lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant 
were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the 
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all 
the fowls were filled with their flesh." Rev. xix, 17-21. 

We do not consider this last and desperate struggle 
to regain the antichristian dominion to be a prolonged 
effort. On the contrary, it is the death throe of the 
enemies of Christ who are now extinguished; not every 
individual, but so far as their organic structure and their 
civil and social power to obstruct the Gospel are con- 
cerned. They met and were vanquished. " So let all 
thine enemies perish, O Lord: but let them that love 
him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." 
Judg. V, 31. 

One more act is thrown upon the scene before we 
enter the long-looked-for millennium. John gives it 
thus : " And I saw an angel come down from heaven, 
having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain 
in his hand. And he laid hold on the di-agon, that old 
serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him 
a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, 
and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should 
deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should 
be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little 
season." Chap, xx, 1-3. 

It is easily perceived that this startling imagery de- 
notes an effectual restraint thrown over the tempting 
power. Religious life is made easy when temptation 
and persecution are withdrawn. The titles herein given 
the tempter, of " dragon, serpent, devil, Satan," suggest 
the varied forms and subtlety of the prime enemy of 



174 ESCHATOLOGY. 

souls, and of Christ. This binding of Satan, and casting 
him into the bottomless pit, is the last joreliminary to 
the full introduction of the millennium. It is in itself a 
millennium. The suffering Church has not suffered in 
vain. Throuo^h all the dark ao^es of the reio-n of anti- 
christ, Satan, in his varied forms of seduction or coer- 
cion, of terror or guile, of the subtle serpent or the 
" roaring lion," had brought the known world chiefly 
under his sway, leading men captive at his will. But 
now, He that is " stronger than the strong man " has 
entered his citadel, and the tempter is not only laid 
under restraint, but thrown into prison, shut up, and a 
seal put upon him. His prison is " the bottomless pit." 
In Luke viii, 31, it is recorded that the evil spirits be- 
sought Christ " that he would not command them to go 
out into the deep^"* where the word dfivaaog^abussos, should 
be translated bottomless 2^it or bottomless deep, its literal 
signification. The same also as Rev. xx, 1-3, and in 
four other places in the Apocalypse. Peter speaks of 
them as the angels that sinned, whom God spared not, 
but " delivered into chains of darkness, to be reserved 
unto judgment." Jude also gives a warning judgment 
in the example of " the angels that kept not their first 
estate, but left their own habitation, whom God hath 
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto judg- 
ment of the great day." 2 Pet. ii, 4; Jude 6. Alim- 
ited range has been allowed, but now, in the millennial 
period, the tempter, the arch deceiver, is shut up. This 
abatement of the tempting power might be supposed 
to be a lively description of the waning resources of the 
beast and antichrist — the result of long and faithful and 
successful grappling with errors and vices — but the sym- 
bols seem to require, in addition to simple moral results, 
the co-operation of government authority protecting the 
rights of all in the free choice of their faith. And such 



Doom of Babylon. 175 

is the fact in all human governments, that as moral 
force increases among the masses, government action 
will interfere and recognize the legitimacy of the 
achievements by conforming the laws to the advanced 
moral convictions of the people. But in the case before 
us we cannot see but the binding of the tempter is a 
government act establishing what in the realm of moi'al 
forces has been attained, and giving power and scope 
and protection to the kingdom of Christ. 

"It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we 
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like 
him; for we shall see him as he is." See 1 John 
iii, 2. We say it is remarkable that such a one 
could write the last two chapters of the Revela- 
tion. We do not know what shall be the full bliss and 
adaptations of the resurrection body, but it is sufficient 
to know that heaven, and our adaptations to it, shall 
transcend all human example or conception. The gor- 
geous symbolism of the new Jerusalem gives but a 
faint idea of the condition and surroundings of the 
*' Bride" with her "Lord," "when he shall come to be 
glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them 
that believe in that day.' 2 Thess. i, 10. If the state- 
ments of chapter xix. 7-9 describe the marriage in its 
historical nature and dress, the statements of chapter xxi 
give the consummation of the Church's reward and 
honor and external condition. If the former leaves the 
Church in the millennial glory, the latter reveals her 
happy condition after the millennium, after the judg- 
ment-day, in the midst of the eternal glory. Again we 
say, " Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage 
supper of the Lamb." " And there shall in no wise enter 
into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever work- 
eth abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are 
written in the Lamb's book of Life." Rev. xxi, 27. 



176 ESCHATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

PERSONAL CHARACTER OF ANTICHRIST. 

The periods of the vials are ended, and the wrathful 
vengeance for the blood of the martyrs and for the 
j)ersecution of the saints is poured forth. But we can- 
not now hasten to celebrate even so great an event 
until the attendant angel shall have explained to the 
prophet more definitely the features and character of 
their now fallen persecutor. The subject is contained 
in the seventeenth chapter. John thus states it: 

" And there came one of the seven angels which had 
the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me. 
Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of 
the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; with 
whom the kings of the earth have committed forni- 
cation, and the inhabitants of the earth have been 
made drunk with the wine of her fornication." Rev. 
xvii, 1, 2. 

In order to comply with the invitation of the angel, 
to learn what is " the judgment of the great whore 
that sitteth upon the many waters," we shall treat the 
items serially. 

1. And first, the arch enemy of God, that has en- 
grossed throughout the periods of the seven vials the 
chief concern, is described as " the great whore that 
sitteth upon many waters." Yer. 1. This symbol is 
fully explained inverse 15: "The waters which thou 
sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multi- 
tudes, and nations, and tongues." Her " sitting upon " 
these "peoples and multitudes," etc., indicates her su- 



Personal Character of Antichrist. 177 

preme control of them, and their base obsequiousness 
toward her. This needs no further explanation. The 
world never witnessed such mean compliance on the 
part of the people and princes, and such cruelty of ex- 
action of the papal authority, as in the Roman hier- 
archy from the ninth to the sixteenth centuries. 

2. Secondly, John " saw a woman sit upon a scarlet- 
colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having 
seven heads and ten horns." Ver. 3. " Purple and 
scarlet were the colors of the imperial habit; the pur- 
ple in times of peace, and the scarlet in times of war. 
It is well known these are the colors used by the pope 
and cardinals ; so that to be raised to the purple, or to 
the scarlet hat, is used to express being made a car- 
dinal. The use of jewels for state and magnificence is 
too well known to be insisted on. The golden cup in 
her hand, full of abomination and filthiness of her for- 
nication, may be an allusion to those philters, or love- 
l)otinos, which prostitutes and lewd women were used 
to prepare, or it may refer more simply to the common 
effects of drunkenness and debauchery." * 

3. In verse 3 the woman that figures so largely 
in this vision is said to sit upon a scarlet-colored beast 
"having seven heads and ten horns." This " beast " is 
commonly understood to be the Roman power in Eu- 
rope, or the Latin Empire, or the Western Empire of 
Rome, out of which rose ten kingdoms, all of which 
were obsequious to the papal authority. The angel 
nuncio thus explains : " The ten horns that thou saw- 
est are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as 
yet." Ver. 12. That is, out of the ruins of the West- 
ern Empire of Rome, demolished by the Northern bar- 
barians in A. D. 476, there were to arise ten kingdoms, 
but the political convulsions had not yet settled so that 

* Lowman. 



178 ESCHATOLOGY. 

the boundaries of the new kingdoms of Europe could be 
established. 

4. In verse 8 it is said, ^' The beast that thou sawest 
was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless 
pit, and go into perdition : and they that dwell on the 
earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in 
the book of life from the foundation of the w^orld, 
when they behold the heast that was, and is not, and 
yet is.^^ 

The obscurity of this description disappears when we 
cast our eyes over the political aspect of Roman his- 
tory, and see the varied, and yet progressive, history 
of the papacy. In the early part of the fourth century 
Constantine the Great established the Christian religion 
by law as the religion of the Roman Empire. This 
gave the papal hierarchy every facility to develop and 
establish its tendency to that blasphemous usurpation 
of power wdiich it sought. Thus, and in this sense, the 
apocalyptic beast "toas/'' that is, it already existed. 
Two hundred years later the western, or European, part 
of the Roman Empire was demolished by the Northern 
barbarians, and to all human appearance the Church 
must be engulfed in floods of barbarism. ISTothing re- 
mained, politically, of the Western Empire but the city 
of Rome and a few strong cities which were still at- 
tached to the eastern branch by a lieutenancy. But, 
contrariwise, they found in the Church, though far 
from the standards of the apostles and Christ, a solid 
organization of Church law, which w^as more effective 
in controlling society than the sword and spear. The 
Church had modeled a code of law after the Roman 
type and spirit. Its form was ecclesiastic, but its spirit 
was that of the old imperial Rome. 

But now a new and more dangerous enemy arose. 
The Lombards, who had long held E'orthern Italy, now 



Personal Character of Antichrist. 179 

resolved to complete their Italian conquest, and moved 
their army toward Rome for that purpose. The papacy 
was now in great peril. Luitprand, King of the Lom- 
bards, Avas not a friend of the pope, though he wished not 
to be accounted an enemy, and there was not a military 
force in Italy to withstand the invader. In vain did 
the pope appeal to the Byzantine emperor for help. 
One only resort remained; namely, appeal to the 
friendly disposition of Pepin, Emperor of France. The 
pope had already conferred upon him a great favor in 
sanctioning the change of dynasty from the Merovin- 
gian to the Carlovingian line, Avhich brought Pepin and 
his son Charlemagne to the imperial throne. 

In A. D. 744 Luitprand, the Lombard king, died, and 
was succeeded by his son Astolph, who " declared him- 
self the equal enemy of the Emperor of France and the 
pope;" and at another time declared "he would not 
leave the pope a foot of laud." Ko hope of honorable 
conditions of peace could be expected. The pope, 
Stephen IL, exerted every, and almost incredible, ef- 
fort to avert the impending doom. 

At this crisis Pepin, wdio had accepted the cause of 
Pope Stephen, had passed the Alps, and appeared be- 
fore the walls of Rome. Astolph submitted, and ob- 
tained an ignominious peace, pledging, under oath, to 
cease the war and restore the territory of Rome. 

Scarcely, however, had Pepin withdrawn his army, 
when Astolph renewed the war, wasting provinces and 
besieging Rome. Things had now come to a desperate 
pass. To recall the troops of Pepin was much more 
doubtful and difficult than at first, and the spirit of the 
war was now more vengeful. The pope, however, 
knew no rest. In his second letter to Pepin he says: 
"Astolph is at the gates of Rome; he is threatening, if 
they did not yield up the pope, to put the whole city 



180 ESCHATOLOGY. 

to the sword. He had burned all the villas and the 
suburbs; he had not spared the cliurches; the very 
altars were plundered and defiled; nuns violated; in- 
fants torn from their mothers' breasts; the mothers 
polluted — all the horrors of w^ar were ready to break 
on the devoted city, which had now endured the 
siege of fifty-five days. He conjured him, by God and 
his holy mother, by the angels of heaven, by the apos- 
tles St. Peter and St. Paul, and by the last day." As- 
tolph " demanded the surrender of the pope." " He de- 
manded that the Romans should give up tlie pope into 
his hands, and on these terms only would he spare the 
city." 

The hours flew rapidly; the Franks were distant and 
tardy. Pepin was offered "victory over all the bar- 
barian nations and eternal life " if would come to the 
rescue. Stephen was wrought to an agony, and in this 
urgency conceived the unprecedented and impious de- 
vice of forging a letter from St. Peter himself to Pepin, 
urging him to hasten the relief of the pope. The letter 
is as folloAvs: 

"I, Peter the apostle, protest, admonish, and conjure 
you, the most Christian kings, Pepin, Charles, and 
Carloman, with all the hierarchy, bishops, abbots, 
priests, and all monks; all judges, dukes, counts, and 
the whole peo])le of the Franks. The mother of God 
likewise adjures you, and admonishes and commands 
you, she as well as the thrones and dominions, and all 
the hosts of heaven, to save the beloved of Rome from 
the detested Lombards. If ye hasten, I, Peter the 
apostle, promise you my protection in this life and in 
the next, will prej^are for you the most glorious man- 
sions in heaven, and will bestow on you the everlasting 
joys of Paradise. Make common cause w^ith my people 
of Rome, and I will grant whatever ye may pray for. I 



Personal Character of Antichrist. 181 

conjure you not to yield up this city to be lacerated 
and tormented by the Lombards, lest your OAvn souls 
be lacerated and tormented in hell, with the devil and 
his pestilential angels. Of all nations under heaven, 
the Franks are highest in the esteem of St. Peter; to 
me you owe all your victories. Obey, and obey speed- 
ily, and by my suffrage our Lord Jesus Christ will 
give you in this life length of days, security, victory; 
in the life to come will multiply his blessings upon 
you, among his saints and angels." * 

The Franks, tardy in their preparations, when once 
under marching orders moved to the scene of action 
with celerity. At the sight of the French army the 
Lombards again submitted, and the territory taken by 
Astolph was restored. Rome and the exarchate were 
given by Pepin to the pope as an absolute and inalien- 
able possession. Henceforth the pope becomes a tem- 
poral prince and sovereign, as well as spiritual and 
ecclesiastical. 

We turn now to the explication of the prophetic 
statement, that the beast which John saw " loas, and is 
not, and yet is,''^ which we understand to mean that the 
persecuting power represented in the beast, or papacy, 
was supposed "by them that dwell on the earth 
[worldlings], whose names were not written in the 
book of life," to be firmly established, as we have men- 
tioned, in its usurped authorit}^, and in this sense "he 
was; " and then, by judgment of God, was reversed in 
condition, so that his liberty and power were taken from 
hirn, and his life was for a season in great jeopardy, 
so that it might be said, to human view, "He is 
not;^' or, as one would say, "All is lost." And this 
would express the popular feeling. Then, by change of 
political circumstances, the hierarchy was relieved and 
* See Milraan's Latin Chridiardi^j, vol. ii, chap. 2, 



182 ESCHATOLOGY. 

restored, so that then it Avoukl be said, " He yet is.^^ 
If it be said that these particulars are not of such mag- 
nitude and breadth of continuance as to justify the 
place we have here given them, we have only to 
say that the moral, political, and ecclesiastical impor- 
tance of the events recorded have nothing to exceed 
or equal them in European history. On this point we 
shall not be controverted. 

The period of the greatest exposure of the life of the 
popes, particularly of Stephen II., embraced about five 
years, but the troubled elements in which the popes were 
confirmed in the princely donation of the exarchate 
did not subside till twenty years afterward, when, by 
providential judgment, Charlemagne reaffirmed the act 
of Pepin. 

We are to judge of events by their influence for 
good or evil on the kingdom of Christ, or that of anti- 
christ, and by that test the world has not an age to 
surpass it. Our notices of history are necessarily brief, 
but, as we judge, sufiicient. 

5. The Roman type and character are fully and won- 
drously set forth inverses 9-12: "And here is the mind 
which hath wisdom. TJie seven heads are seven mount- 
ains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven 
kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not 
yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short 
space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he 
is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdi- 
tion. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten 
ki-ngs, which have received no kingdom as yet; but re- 
ceive power as kings one hour with the beast." 

This description is intensively of Roman type. The 
'^seven heads" we are told (ver. 9) are "seven mount- 
ains on which the woman sitteth," and the same repre- 
sent " seven kings," or forms of government. Of these 



Personal Character of Axtichrist. 183 

forms of government "five are fallen, and one is," 
that is, still in power, "and the other is not yet come, 
and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." 
Yer. 10. As face answereth to face in a glass, so also 
does the symbolic j^rophecy reflect the historic facts. 
Rome is known as the mistress of the world, " sitting 
upon her seven hills," and is almost as familiarly known 
by this poetically descriptive title as by her historic 
name. Tacitus, her own .historian, says: "Rome was 
first governed by kings, then by consuls, by dictators, 
by decimvirs, and by military tribunes with consular 
authority."''' Mr. AYapIe, quoted by LoAvman, says: 
" Concerning the first five, that they were fallen or 
passed away at the time of the vision, and without any 
distinct account of them, their time, names, differences, 
or the order of their succession among themselves, for 
Avhicli he gives this good reason: because they were of 
no further use to this prophecy than to show that the 
one head then in being Avas the sixth of the seven, after 
five already past. We have no need, then, to inquire, 
with, great exactness, what these five forms of govern- 
ment were." 

After the notice of the five kings in verse 8 it is fur- 
ther stated, concerning the two remaining, that " one is, 
and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he 
mitst continue a short spaced The first of these two is 
the imperial, and was in force when John wrote. The 
second, which had not yet come, was the exarchate, or 
lieutenancy, which arose in Italy after the fall of the 
Western Roman Empire, and continued over two hun- 
di-ed years, terminating in the transfer of its territory 
to the pope, Stephen II., and the severance of the last 
political link that had connected the East and West di- 
visions of the Roman Empire. 

♦Tacitus, Lib. i, cap. 1. 



184 ESCHATOLOGY. 

It is clear enough from these showings that verses 9 
and 10 are a description of Roman law and government 
introduced for ulterior ends, and the wonderful literal- 
ity of the figures makes them as obvious as historic 
names. The first clause of verse 9 anticipates this: "And 
here is the mind which hath wisdom;" that is, here, by 
these symbols as tests, will be manifested the mind that 
hath understanding, giving careful attention to the 
prophecy; but others, not careful in spiritual things, 
walk on in darkness. 

The statements of verse 11 in this chapter touch and 
bring to view all that is of leading importance in the 
seventeenth chapter, and indeed,we might say, all within 
chapters x to xviii, for the leading theme is antichrist. 
It reads thus : "And the beast that was, and is not, even 
he is the eighth^ and is of the seven^ and goeth into perdi- 
tion." In verse 8 the angel nuncio calls it "the beast 
that was, and is not, and yet is." This has been men- 
tioned already in the preceding part of this chapter. 
Our attention at this point is called to the "beast" 
which is the " eighth " form of Roman government. In 
the language of the angel who is explaining to John, 
this eighth form of Roman government is not found in 
political Roman history, but in propliecy only. It is a 
form of government which rose within the western 
limits of the old Roman government by Romans, and 
is, says John, " of tJie seve?i forms of Roman dominion, 
yet sui generis of its own type. The preposition sk, 
translated of, should receive here its full and radical sig- 
nification, out of — the "eighth" form of government 
" is out o/the seven." It is Romish in its juridical cast, 
its ambition to attain universal dominion, its genius and 
aims, its cruelty, its oppression. "But Rome w^as a 
civic powder." The beast and antichrist are, professedly, 
a religious power; but they assume, and for a thousand 



Personal Character of Antichrist. 185 

years have executed, supreme secular power over kings 
and all civil power, and would now exercise it but for 
the force of public Sv^ntirncnt. The doom of the beast 
is every-where given the sraiie — "he shall ascend out of 
the bottomless pit, and go into perdition." 

Upon the forehead of this beastly woman " was a 
name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother 
of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth." Verse 5. 
**And the woman was arrayed in 2)urple and scarlet 
color, and decked with gold and precious stones and 
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomi- 
nations and filthiness of her fornication." Ver. 4. 
These symbolical descriptions of the moral type of 
antichrist are quite common in poetic and prophetic 
Scripture, and denote infidelity of the Church to whom 
she had been really, but now only professionally, allied. 
Her attaching her titles " upon her forehead " denotes 
the shameless exposure of her fornication. 

6. In verses 12, 13, we have a further description of 
antichrist: "And the ten horns which thou sa\vest are 
ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet ; but 
receive jDOwer as kings one hour with the beast. These 
have one mind, and shall give their power and strength 
unto the beast." Whether the word " ten " in the men- 
tion of the " ten kings " should be taken literally, or as 
a complement or complete number, has been doubted, 
and, so far as the historic authority is concerned, it is 
of no importance. "What we translate ^ one hoiir^ 
fitav (opav^ ought to have been translated 'the same 
hour^ or point of time, as several learned interpreters 
have justly observed."* This brings out an important 
fact; namely, that in reconstructing the nations that 
sprang up after the fall of Western Rome the princes 
and conquerors acted in joint fellowship and harmony 

* Lowman. 
13 



186 ESCHATOLOGY. 

with the papacy. Literally, "they received power as 
kings the same hour, or time, Avith the heast." And this 
is a fact — that at this time, the latter part of the eighth 
century, the sovereigns of Europe paid their homage 
to the popes and acted subordinately to them. It is 
a fact also that at that time the nationalities of Europe 
had not settled and were not determined. The ten 
kings " had received no kingdom as yet." The succes- 
sors of Charlemagne were not able to hold the limits of 
his empire as he left them, nor could they for a hundred 
years after. 

v. Two facts of world-wide significance meet us here. 
The first is given thus: "These (the hostile kings) have 
one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto 
the heast. These shall make war with the Lamb." 
Yers. 13, 14. This applies, with little abatement or 
exception, from the eighth to the sixteenth centuries. 
The history of Europe during these centuries is too 
patent to require formal proof. 

The second great fact is thus stated: "And the 
Lamb shall overcome them [the hostile kings]. And 
the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these 
shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and 
naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn hei* with fire. 
For God hath put it in their hearts to fulfill his will, 
and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, 
until the words of God shall be fulfilled." Yers. 14, 
16, 17, 

Here, then, we have it, plain and indisputable, that 
the European nations " will have one mind, to give their 
power and strength unto the beast, and to make war 
with the Lamb; " and this state of things shall continue 
for a long period of time. But in the end the Lamb 
shall overcome, " for he is Lord of lords and King of 
kings." The conquest is complete. John says: "The 



Personal Character of Antichrist. 187 

ten horns [sovereigns] which he saw upon the beast, 
these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate 
and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with 
fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his Avill, 
and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, 
until the words of God shall he fulfilled.'''' Vers. 16, 17. 
Let any one cast an eye of retrospection over the Middle 
Ages, and compare the same with the present, and our 
meaning will be fully seen. 



ESCHATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

POREGLEAMS OF MILLENNIUM. 

The date of Christ's reign upon the earth is the date 
of the plan of redemption. When he took upon him- 
self to redeem us unto God he assumed the reins of 
universal government. "All power was given unto 
liim in heaven and in earth." But man was in hostility 
to God and refused submission. As the government 
passed from the Father to the Son, for the ends of re- 
demption, the sovereignty, now vested in Christ, must 
be sustained upon principles of gospel provision and 
human free agency and accountability ; and allegiance 
to God in Christ must be the contingent of restored 
peace. Just as far, therefore, as the redemptive 
scheme takes effect, just so far the " kingdom of 
heaven " is restored and re-established. Submission to 
the kingdom of God is submission to the Son of God 
as king. Christ "must reign, till he has put all enemies 
under his feet." 1 Cor. xv, 25. Those who accept the 
conditions of reconciliation will be restored — brought 
back under the protection and immunities of law; but 
those who still rebel must be subdued by force — held 
under unwilling arrest by law. They persistently re- 
fuse to be governed by the precept of law, and must, 
therefore, be governed by the penal authority of law. 

I. This is the light in which the Old and New Test- 
aments view and declare the subject. Take an exam- 
ple of the tone and language of Old Testament 
prophecy: 

" Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine 



FOREGLEAMS OF MILLENNIUM. 189 

a vain thing ? The kings of the earth set themselves, 
and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah 
and against his Messiah, saying, let us break their bands 
asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that 
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: Jehovah shall have 
them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his 
wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have 
I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare 
the decree: the Jehovah hath said unto me. Thou art 
my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, 
and T shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, 
aud the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt 
dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise 
now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of 
the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with 
trembling. Kiss [submit to] the Son, lest he be angry, 
and ye perisli from the way, when his wrath is kindled 
but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in 
him." Psa. ii. 

II. In the same strain of triumphant sovereignty the 
author of the one hundred and tenth psalm delivers one 
of the most remarkable prophecies of King Messiah's 
reign which is on record: 

" Jehovah said unto my Lord \_adonee\ Sit thou at 
my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot- 
stool. 

" Jehovah shall send the rod of thy strength out of 
Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy 
people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the 
beauties of holiness from the womb of the mornino:: 
thou hast the dew of thy youth. Jehovah hath 
sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a pi'iest forever 
after the order of Melchizedek. Jehovah at thy 
right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his 



190 ESCHATOLOGY, 

wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill 
the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the 
heads over many countries. He shall drink of the 
brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head." 

in. It is a characteristic feature of the Old Testa- 
ment Messianic prophecies that they are Jehovic; that 
is, they describe Jehovah as doing what, in 'New Testa- 
ment times, is ascribed to Messiah, as in the missionary 
psalms, xciii and xcv-xcviii. But in Psalms ii and 
ex Jehovah is clearly distinguished from 3Iessia/i (ii, 2) 
and Adonah, or Lord (ex, 1). The time for revealing 
the person of Christ had not yet come ; Christ had not 
yet taken upon him our flesh; but in these psalms the 
true Hebrew King who is to reign over the nations is 
clearly typified and designated, and in this character he 
is quoted in the Kew Testament. 

The question, " Will Christ ever rule over the nations 
of the earth ? " has been answered in the affirmative by 
the suffering Church in all ages. Often has the midnight 
traveler asked, as in the " burden of Dumah," " Watch- 
man, what of the night? " to which prophecy certainly 
gives an answer fraught with hope and satisfaction. 
Daniel gives no equivocal utterance when he says: 
" And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven 
set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and 
the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall 
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it 
shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that 
the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, 
and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, 
the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known 
. . . what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is 
certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." 

" I beheld . . . until the Ancient of days came and 
judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; 



FOREGLEAMS OF MiLLENXIUM. 191 

and the time came that the saints possessed the king- 
dom." "And the kingdom and dominion, and the great- 
ness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be 
given to the people of the saints of the Most High, 
whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all do- 
minions [rulers] shall serve and obey him." Dan. ii, 
44, 45, and vii, 21, 22, 27. 

It is not our purpose to enter at large upon the doc- 
trine of the kingly rule of Christ over the nations; we 
shall assume mainly, what is universally admitted by 
all believers in divine revelation, that the moral govern- 
ment is administered by the Mediator to whom all power 
in heaven and upon the earth is given. He only has 
" the keys of Hades and of death." Rev. i, 18. " King 
of kings, and Lord of lords." Rev. xix, 16. And his 
dominion is not conditioned upon the will and choice 
of men, but upon the immutable plan and purpose of 
the persons of the Godhead, who formed and sealed the 
wondrous scheme of redemption. Christ rules in the 
universe as really now as he will in the millennial glory. 
The date of his power is coincident with the date of 
the plan of redemption. 

IV. But there is a class of New Testament Scriptures, 
too much overlooked, which, nevertheless, have an im- 
portant, one should say determinate, bearing on the sub- 
ject of the kingly sovereignty of our Lord and Saviour, 
which. also shed light on the millennial epoch. Indeed, 
they literally converge to that glorious, central point. 
We refer to the practice of distinguishing in advance 
what is to be achieved in and by the prophetic epochs. 
Thus, for example, tlie genius and results of the divine 
advent of our Saviour, at his first appearing, are 
announced at his birth by the song of the "multitude of 
the heavenly hosts," saying, "glory to God in the high- 
est, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 



192 EsCHATOLOGY. 

ii, 14. And thus tlie iDvoplietic epochs are disthignlshed 
and assured, at their several and successive openings, by 
intimating the results to be attained by them severally. 
These anticipations we call foregleams. 

The Scriptures to which we refer are chiefly in the 
Apocalypse, from chapter x to cha^pter xx. We quote 
first f i-om Rev. x, 6, 7. Tlie periods of the " six seals," 
and of the "six trumpets," had passed. The tenth 
chapter is an interlude to the regular succession of 
periods, and a prelude to the great epoch of tlie " sev- 
enth trum.pet." An angel is commissioned to make 
an announcement of great moment, an announcement in 
advance of all previous prophecies as to the final triumph 
of the Church. The announcement, in consideration of 
its great moment, is given in the form of an oath, and 
is as follows: "And the angel which I saw stand upon 
the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 
and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who 
created heaven, and the things that therein arc, and 
earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and 
the things which are therein, that the time is not yet 
[or, that the time shall not be yet\. but in the days of 
the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to 
sound [or, when he shall sound], tfie mystery of God 
SHOULD BE FixiSHED, as he hath declared to his se7'vants 
the prophets^'' 

"The mystery of God" we understand to be his 
mysterious providence in allowing the corrupt powers 
of this world to inflict so great sufferings upon the 
Church. But a limit to these sanguinary struggles is 
now fixed, and an intimation of time given. Emphat- 
ically it is now said, "It is doxe." "We say this is in 
advance of all previous prophecy. Daniel saw it, but 
not so clearly and fully as John. From this hill-top of 
prophecy the end of persecution is discovere.l. It is, 



FOREGLEAMS OF MILLENNIUM. 193 

as we shall see, the true millennium. It is within the 
compass of the " last days," the last trumpet, the last 
triumphal prophetic epoch, at the terminus of years of 
antichrist. Here forever end the sufferings and the 
persecutions of the Church. Beyond this " end of the 
mystery of God," lie the millennium, the judgment-day 
and the eternal states of men. 

Meanwhile great and sore conflicts yet remain, but 
the final victory is discovered afar, and is sure. Like 
the weather-worn mariner, they shout to see "land 
ahead," though distant. 

V. Parallel to this passage is Dan. xii, 6, 7. When it 
was asked, "How long shall it be to the end of these 
wonders ? " Ave understand him to mean the same as 
John : How long shall it be till " the mystery of God 
shall be finished ? " And thus the answering angel, in 
exact accord with the angel of the Apocalypse, replied 
as will appear by the following synopsis: 

Dan. xii, 6-8. " And one said to Rev. x, 5-t. " And the angel 

the man clothed in linen, How which I saw stand upon the sea 

long shall it he to the end of these and upon the earth lifted up his 

wonders? And I heard the man hand to heaven, and sware by 

clotlied in linen, which was upon him thathveth forever and ever, 

the waters of the river, when he ... that the time is not yet: but 

hold up his right hand and his in the days of the voice of the seventh 

left hand unto heaven and sware angel, when he shall sound, the 

by liim that liveth for ever and mystery of god shall be fin- 

ever. that it shall he for a time, ished, as he hath declared to his 

times, and a half; and when he servants the prophets." 
shall have accorapHshed to scatter 
the power of tlie holy people, all 
these things shall be finished." 

Observe, that both Daniel and John earnestly desired 
to know the final outcome of all these predicted events 
which John calls '' the mystery of God," and Daniel 
calls " these wonders; " that in each case the angel nuncio 



1 94 ESCHATOLOGY. 

answered in the form of oath, with uplifted hands, 
indicating the solemnity and importance of the disclos- 
ure, the one standing b}^ the river (Hiddekel, or Tigris, 
chap, X, 4), the other "with his right foot upon the sea, 
and his left foot upon the earth;" both swear "by him 
that liveth forever." Daniel brought the terminus of 
the vision within the *Hime, times, and a half;" John 
brought it within "tlie seventh trumpet" — both cover- 
ing ])recisely tlie same period. Here ends the vision of 
Daniel; but John carries us in chronological order 
through the millennium, the resurrection, the judgment- 
day, and the final rewards, the restitution, 

VI. The point to be noted here, as specially germane 
to our argument, is, that within the seventh trumpet 
period the persecution of the Church forever ends, and 
the glorious rewards begin. " In the days of the voice 
of the seventh trumpet, when he shall sound, the mys- 
tery of God shall be finislied." It is remarkable that 
from the downfall of Babylon to the judgment-day, the 
Bible cites no instance of persecution, no suffering of 
the saints. It is true that an attempt was made to 
assault the Church (Rev. xx, 7-1 0), but it was wholly 
abortive. Instant judgment " from God out of lieaven 
devoured them." The great conflict, which John sym- 
bolized by the sanguinary history of Megiddo ("Arma- 
geddon," chap, xvi, 16), occured earlier under the sixth 
vial; but under the seventh vial "great Babylon came 
in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup 
of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." Chap, xvi, 
19. From that hour the suffering Church came from 
under the domination of her enemies, and the kingdom 
of our Lord and Christ was not only established, but 
became the ruling power in the world. Sinners and 
enemies of the Church there were in the world, but 
their power to hurt was forever gone. 



FOREGLEAMS OF MiLLEXXIUM. 195 

YII. Eut a more complete idea of the import and 
breadth of the events of the seventh trumpet, or epoch, 
is gi\en in Rev. xi, 15-18, which we here give: 

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were 
great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this 
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his 
Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the 
four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their 
seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, saying, 
We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, 
and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to 
thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the na- 
tions were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time 
of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou 
shouldest give reward to thy servants the prophets, and 
to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and 
great; and shouldest destroy them that destroy the 
earth." 

Consider here that the descriptive title assumed — " O 
Lord God Almighty, which art, and Avast, and art to 
come" — is repeated verbatim from chapter i, 8, "which 
is, and which was, and which is to come." In the latter 
assumed by Christ; in the former ascribed to the 
" Lord God Almighty." Consider further that the 
themes of these sacred chants are nothing else than con- 
densed statements of events and results which charac- 
terize the period of the seventh trumpet, and which 
are to develop into historic facts in their times. The 
grand result only is given. 

Consider further that the notable events of the 
epoch are mentioned in succession; namely, first, the re- 
sumption of a more marked administration of justice 
toward the enemies of Christ — "Thou hast taken to 
thee thy great power and hast reigned;" secondly, the 
nations were angry because the Church pressed more 



196 ESCHATOLOGY. 

vigorously the claims of gospel purity and freedom; and 
as they resisted the judgments of God so the judgments 
were intensified. Thirdly, the time of the dead that they 
shoidd be judged had come, when God will call to ac- 
count them that had destroyed the earth in all the 
ages. This would appear to refer to the final judgment 
of the wicked (Rev. xx, 11-15); for the seventh trum- 
pet period reaches down to the final judgment-day. 
But if it refer to the righteous, which is more prob- 
able, the word '■^ judgmenV must be taken in the sense 
of acquittal, vindication, which would also be a judg- 
ment, for acquittal of the righteous is as much the 
oifice of judicial justice, and a legal judgment, as con- 
demnation of the wicked. It would make a good sense 
to read, " the time of the dead [saints] that they should 
be mndicated.''^ They had been martyred and perse- 
cuted under false and lying accusation: they are now 
to be acquitted before the universe and the reproach 
removed. Fourthly, Christ " will give reward to his 
servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that 
fear his name, small and great." Fifthly, " He will de- 
stroy them that destroy the earth." The issue is great 
and world-wide, and the victory commensurate. The 
earth is the scene of both battle and victory. The 
final millennial result of the epoch of the seventh trum- 
pet is thus stated: "The kingdoms of this world are 
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." 
Yer. 15. 

VIII. In another place than that last quoted, and in 
other imager}^, the reign of Christ upon the earth, and 
the downfall of antichristian nations, and of antichrist 
himself, is foretold as occurring under the j^eriod of 
the seventh trumpet. Thus, after a long conflict with 
the terrible " dragon," and a great victory attained, 
the revelator records; 



FOEEGLEAMS OF MiLLEXXIUM. 197 

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now 
is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of 
our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser 
of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before 
our God day and night. And they overcame him by 
the blood of tlie Lamb, and hj the word of their tes- 
timony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in 
them." Rev. xii, 10-12. 

IX. Anotlier voice of distant triumph from the depth 
and darkness through which the suffering, persecuted 
Church is passing, is found in Rev. xiv, 6-8, the latter 
part of the epoch of the seventh trumpet: "And I saAV 
another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the 
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on 
the earth, and to ever}'- nation, and kindred, and tongue, 
and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give 
glory to him; for the hour of his ^judgment is come: 
and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the 
sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed 
another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that 
great city, because she made all nations drink of the 
wine of the wrath of her fornication." 

X. Again they rejoice in heaven over the assured 
anticipation of victory of the Church and the ex- 
altation of Christ: "And they sing the song of Moses 
the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 
Great and marvelous are thy works. Lord God Almighty ; 
just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who 
shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorifj'- thy name ? for 
thou only art holy, for all nations shall come and wor- 
ship before thee; /or thy judgments are made manifest,'''' 
Rev. XV, 3, 4. 

XL Two great events filled the vision of the proj^het, 
as he wrote the words of these last two quotations; 



198 ESCHATOLOGY. 

namely, the fall of antichrist and the spread and es- 
tablishment of the gospel kingdom — events which nsher 
in the millennium. Antichrist is not only an individual 
power, clothed with the attributes of a complete auton- 
omy, but represents those, also, who are in sympathy 
and subordination to the "beast;" the secular powers 
upholding him and executing his will. It is a singular 
union of political sovereignty and religious apostasy. 
This combination presented the most intolerant hypoc- 
risy, blasphemy, and unrelenting cruelty the world has 
ever witnessed. The career of this " mother of har- 
lots," this mystic " Babylon," this " abomination of the 
earth," was checked and overthrown by the seven 
"vials of the wrath of God." The judgments of God 
were the " rod of iron " by which the enemies of Jeho- 
vah were " dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel." Psa. 
ii, 9. When tlie seventh and last vial was poured out, 
it was signally announced, "It is finished." "And 
great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to 
give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of 
his wrath. Rev. xvi, 17, 19. It should be most seri- 
ously considered that in the quotation (chap, xv, 3, 5) 
Christ is called "King of saints," thus keeping the issue 
between Christ the Lord and his enemies prominently 
before all; and the clause, "For thy judgments are made 
manifest," clearly indicating that the judgments falling „_ 

upon the wicked were publicly recognized and confessed f J 

as the visitations of God. In no other sense could the 
word £(l)avegG)d7]6av, " Thy judgments «re made mani- 
fest^^ be understood. 

XII. In chapter xviii the wailing of the nations at 
the downfall of Babylon is recorded: "For all nations 
had drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, 
and the kings of the earth had committed fornication 
with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich 



FoREGLEAMvS OF MILLENNIUM. 199 

tiirongh the abundance of her delicacies. . . . And in 
]jer was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and 
of all that Avcre slain upon the earth." Chap, xviii, 3, 24. 

Following this was a triumphal chant in heaven, 
"saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and 
power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous 
arc his judgments; for he hath judged the great whore 
which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and 
hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 
And again the}^ said. Alleluia. . . . And the four and 
twenty elders, and the four living creatures, fell down 
and worshiped God that sat on the throne, saying, 
Amen; Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, 
saing, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that 
fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were 
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of 
many waters, and as the voice of mighty timnderings, 
saying. Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reign- 
eth. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him: 
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife 
hath made herself ready." Rev. xix, 1-7. 

These are not the rhapsodies of a disordered brain, 
nor the hyperboles of an excited imagination. They 
are "the true sayings of God." They certainly teach 
us of an antichristian power in close political alliance 
with the nations, and in most deadly hostility to tlie 
true followei's of Christ. It teaches the final overthrow 
of that power whose various names, iniquitous doings, 
and historic characteristics are given, chapter xvii. The 
parallel is found in Dan. vii, 8, 13, 14, 21, 22, 24-28. 
The catastrophe of this "Mystery, Babylon the 
Geeat, the Mother or Harlots, and Abominations 
OF the Earth," is irretrievable, "for ever and ever," 
and the rejoicing of saints and angels in earth and 
heaven is correspondingly great. Every persecuting 



200 EsCHATOLOCxY. 

power organized find arrayed against the Church, by 
whatever name or title, from the sounding of the sev- 
enth trumpet (Rev. xi, 15-18) on to the twentieth chapter 
of Revelation, is included in this downfall of mystic 
Babylon and her confederates. It is not within the 
scope of our subject to enter at large upon the intei'pre- 
tation of these symbolic proj^hecies; it is enough here to 
say that they represent the overthrow of all persecuting, 
organized, falsely professing Christian ])owers. These 
have always been the bitterest enemies of Clirist. 
*' These have one mind, and shall give their powei* and 
strength unto the beast. These shall make war with 
the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he 
is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are 
with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." Rev. 
xvii, 13, 14. We have now brought down the fore- 
gleams of the millennium to the dawn of that long- 
looked-for day; and the order of events finds us at Rev. 
xix, 6. It Avill be clearly seen that although Christ has 
led his Church through great and terrible sufferings 
yet he has assured them, from age to age, on the page 
of prophecy, that victory will come at last, when " the 
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the king- 
dom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people 
of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an 
everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and 
obey him." Dan. vii, 27. 



The Millennium. 201 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE MILLENNIUM. 

In our citation from the Apocalypse we have assumed 
that the events therein mentioned supply a chronolog- 
ical claim of traceable succession; that the extent of 
time covered by them reaches from the beginning of 
the second century, or from the death of John the 
apostle, doum to the judgment-day ; that the successive 
order of events is an essential factor in their right in- 
terpretation ; that there is no other intimation of time 
but that of the succession of events till we come to 
chapters xi, xii, and xiii, where we have the "time, 
times, and half a time," "the forty and two months," 
and " a thousand two hundred and three score days," 
equal, in each alike, to twelve hundred and sixty solar 
years, being the period of the reign of antichrist; 
that this period of the reign and downfall of antichrist 
is followed by the triumphal spread of the Gos23el and 
the dominion and final triumph of Christ and his king- 
dom on the earth. 

Prophecy had already identified the footsteps of 
King Messiah in the world's history, pointing and lead- 
ing to the great ultimate of gospel triumph. The mil- 
lennial period, though apparently far in the dim dis- 
tance, still filled the visions of faith and hope, thus 
"enduring as seeing him who is invisible." We have 
seen in the previous chnpter that every sub-period and 
every statement of the period of the seventh trumpet 
converged its prophetic light upon the millennial age. 
This is an important clue to the true exposition. Dur- 
14 



202 ESCHATOLOGY. 

iiig twelve hundred and sixty years — the period of anti- 
christ — the faithful, protesting, Avitnessing, and suffer- 
ing Church rested on the assured return of Christ, and 
the thousand years of his peaceful reign on the earth. 

It is out of all analogy in the prophetic economy to 
suppose so great a fact in the militant Church as that 
of the millennium was to transpire, and no adequate 
notice of it be made in the Old Testament by any of 
the evangelical seers. Such an omission would with- 
hold from the Church an indispensable motive power, 
and leave the doctrinal system incomplete. And thus 
were the saints of old wont to speak of a " golden age '' 
yet to come, when the theocracy should be fully i-eal- 
ized, especially in the house and lineage of David. This 
has been already referred to. SeePsa. ii and ex; Ixxxix, 
20-29; cxxxii, 11-18; Amos ix, 11; Acts xv, 14-17. 

But none of the prophets have excelled Isaiah in 
clearness of imagery or distinctness of diction. He 
says: ''And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem 
of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and 
the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit 
of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and 
might, the spirit of knowledge and .of the fear of the 
Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the 
fear of the Lord: and he shall dot judge after the sight of 
his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and re- 
prove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he 
shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and 
w^ith the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 

"And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, 
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also 
shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the 
fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And 



The Millennium. 203 

the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall 
lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the 
ox. And the sucking child shall play on tlie hole of the 
asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the 
cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in 
all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." 
Isa. xi, 1-9. Nothing need be said to make this lan- 
guage more intelligible. The state of society is simply 
the same as John stated and recorded, Rev. xx, 4 ; 
namely, that of gospel triumph; when the people of 
God could say, " Mercy and truth are met together; 
righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth 
shall spring out of the earth ; and righteousness shall 
look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that 
which is good; and our land shall give her increase. 
Righteousness shall go before him, and shall set us in 
the Avay of his steps." Psa. Ixxxv, 10-13. 

The early Christians who were struggling up against 
world-wide discouragement could hardly see how the 
world was to be subjected to Christ, viewing things 
from the stand-point of human agencies, and they longed 
for the second coming of Christ in their day to set 
things right. " But, as the Gospel made progress, the 
possibility and probability of a peaceful victory of the 
Christian cause over all its adversaries by the might of 
truth and of the S23irit gained a lodgment in the convic- 
tions of good men. Another cautious writer says : " By 
the millennium I mean a period of great length, emi- 
nently distinguished for the spread of knowledge and of 
genuine Christianity, in consequence of which good gov- 
ernment will universally be established, virtue will not 
only be generally esteemed but practiced, and human 
happiness will be carried to an unexampled height." * 
♦Towers on Prophecy, vol. ii, p, 257. 



204 ESCHATOLOGY. 

When tlie eyes of the apostle first rested upon the 
millennial scenery he calmly, from the height of pro- 
phetic sublimity, wrote: ^^ And I saio thrones, and they 
sat upon them, and judgment loas given unto them.'''' 
Rev. XX, 4. These brief but comprehensive words tell 
the w^onderful story. Whatever we make the millen- 
nium to be must, if true, find its germ in the descrip- 
tion here given, and in what is legitimately deduced 
therefrom. 

Let us consider the salient points involved. First, 
in the foreground of the picture John saw " thrones,'' 
the standing symbols of supreme civil governments; 
and in those ages, regal, or kingly government. Sec- 
ondly, " they [the sovereigns or supreme rulers] sat 
upon them." Thirdly, " judgment [that is, righteous 
administi-ation] was given unto them." Fourthly, 
thrones {dgovovq) is in the plural, not singular, indicat- 
ing an indefinite number of thrones. 

Consider, then, first, that civil governments, standing 
in the foreground of the \ ision, are the representatives 
of the millennial asfo. This is in accord with both Old 
and New Testament doctrine, as we have already seen 
in the previous chapter. The social life and happiness 
of any people depend largely on the public laws and 
administration. Thus we have found that in their na- 
tional chants, the true indices of their inner life, they 
commonly speak of good government as the boundary 
and source of the public good. Thus, in Rev. v, 10, on 
an occasion Avhich has nothing to excel it in the Apoca- 
lypse till we come to chapter xx, 11-15, tliey closed the 
"new song" with the ultimate hope, "We shall reign 
on the earth." Also chapter xi, 15, they place in the 
opening sti'ain of their song the national hope: "The 
kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of 
our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever 



The Millennium. 205 

and ever." In chapter xv, " they sing the song of Moses 
and of the Lamb" (the song of the saints of the Old 
Testament and of the Kew), and close it with: " For 
all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy 
■judgments are made manifest." Judgment here is to 
be understood in its Hebrew judicial sense of wisdom 
and equity to govern. The point of our argument is 
simply that, in the Hebrew estimation, the highest pub- 
lic and social happiness depends on the condition of 
public law and government. 

Secondly, their ^^ sitting^'' upon tlie thrones is em- 
phatic. It was not for ease, or the display of loyalty, 
but a judicial sitting, indicating in this proper time 
and place readiness to dispense justice. 

Thirdly, the judgment being ^^ given'''' them (the 
rulers) indicates their power was a delegated trust in 
accord witli divine justice. It was God who gave them 
power and wisdom to govern. 

Fourthly, the plural, " thrones,'''' and not the singular, 
is not an unimportant or accidental item. It is in exact 
harmony with all analogy. Wherever allusion is made 
to Christ's enemies the plural is used or implied, and 
wherever the conversion of the world is the theme it is 
the same, the conversion of the nations. Thus, " The 
hingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of 
our Lord and of bis Christ." Rev. xi, 15. "Why do 
the heathen (Hebrew, nations) rage." " Be wise, O ye 
kings." Psa. ii, 1, 10. "All nations shall come and 
worship before thee." Rev. xv, 4. It is the governing 
power of the world that must become subordinate to 
Christ. Here, then, we have civil governments founded 
in righteousness, according to the will of God. What 
need we further to fill the picture of happy, holy life ? 
With these points secured, the highest earthly peace 
and prosperity to all people must follow. Then shall 



206 ESCHATOLOGY. 

be realized " on earth peace, good-will to men." Luke 
ii, 14. And that the governments were purely Chris- 
tian is further determined in the same connection, 
where it is expressly stated, " they lived and reigned 
with Christ," which evidenced that " the kingdom had 
come," and, as never before, " his will now done on 
earth as it is in heaven." 

The verb (iaoiXevo), translated reign, always denotes 
the exercise of regal sovereinty, and must be taken in 
its literal sense here. To suppose a spiritual reigning 
only would be to contradict the whole connection. 
Christ will forever reign in the hearts of his chosen 
ones, but political sovereignty as the outgrowth of the 
spiritual is here intended. Such language is not unfre- 
quent with John, as, "Thou hast made us unto our 
God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the eartW^^ 
(Rev. V, 10) ; and of the glorified saints it is said, 
" They shall reign for ever and ever." Rev. xxii, 5. 

The I'eader must now consider himself to be in the 
sublimest height of the Hebrew theocracy. The civil 
power that governs the world has submitted to Christ. 
All, indeed, are not converted, not saved, but all bow 
to tlie ruling power of Christ, although with some it 
will be with reluctance. According to the Hebrew 
theocracy, by which we must here be guided, both tlie 
prerogative and wisdom to govern are given by Jeho- 
vah. The king is the viceroy of God. Thus David 
prays : " Give to the king thy judgments, O God, and 
thy righteousness unto the king's son. He shall judge 
thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judg- 
ment." Again, the poet describes the happy state of the 
world when Jehovah alone should reign : " Let the 
heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea 
roar, and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, 
and all that is therein : then shall all the trees of the 



The MiLLEXxiuM. 207 

wood rejoice before Jehovali : for he coraeth, for bo 
Cometh to judge the earth : he shall judge the world 
with righteousness, and the people with his truth." See 
Psa. Ixxii and xcvi, 11-13 ; also Isa. xi, 1-9. 

Such is an intimation only of the blessings which 
come to the world through the reign of Jehovah and 
his Messiah. Of the ruling powers it is written, 
"They are priests of God and of Christ, and shnll 
reign with him a thousand years." '' Being like Christ 
himself, priests upon thrones, their kingly power and 
inflaence shall be based on ascertained holiness of char- 
acter ; all authority shall be held directly of God, and 
such things only shall be allowed to proceed as carry 
witli them tlie divine sanction, and are fitted to promote 
the interests of righteousness. Happy period, trnly, 
that shall witness the commencement of such an ad- 
ministration." * 

It is a question of more than speculative importance 
whether the millennial reign of Christ will be in his 
visible person or spiritually, as now, by the Holy Spirit 
in the Church. Two opinions have chiefly obtained as 
to the time and relative order of the second coming of 
Christ; namely, that which holds the coming of Christ 
to be in his personal, bodily appearing, before the mil- 
lennium, and that which holds it to be after the mil- 
lennium. Strong and learned and devoutly Christian 
interpreters have held to either side of this ques- 
tion. Undoubtedly the true doctrine is susceptible of 
identification and proof. Undoubtedly the material 
for a settlement of the question lies somewhere in 
the realm of sacred philology and hermeneutics ; or 
perhaps it belongs to those prophecies, yet unful- 
filled, which cannot be fully explained but by the 
events themselves. But whichever of the interpre- 
* Fairbairn on Prophecy, p. 450. 



208 ESCIIATOLOGY. 

tations be adopted, the fact undeniably stands that 
prophecy asserts and describes a period of time 
wherein the kingdom of Christ shall dominate and ab- 
sorb all rule and autliority upon the earth, and the 
righteous shall reign with Christ. And thus Daniel 
states it : "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one 
like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, 
and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him 
near before liim. And there was given him dominion, 
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and 
languages should serve him: his dominion is an ever- 
lasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his 
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. . . . And the 
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the king- 
dom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the 
people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom 
is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve 
and obey him." Dan. vii, 13, 14, 22, 27. 

It is the office of exegesis to apprehend and set forth 
the thought or idea which a speaker or writer had and 
intended in speaking or writing. In inspired writing, 
*' What is the mind of the Spirit ? " is the question, the 
only question, to be solved. And if the highest as- 
surance cannot be attained, the highest probability, 
according to the laws of biblical interpretation, must be 
taken, always remembering that it is the fact of Christ's 
coming to judge the world that is the fundamental 
doctrine; all other particulars are secondary. He that 
accepts the doctrine of his personal coming to judge the 
world, and to finish that of prophecy which remains 
unfulfilled, is a true believer; and he that "loves his 
appearing," and is living prepared for the event — the 
greatest event remaining unfulfilled in the prophetic 
record — " looking for and earnestly desiring the coming 
of the day of God" — is a true disciple. We are living 



The MiLLEXNiu^r. 209 

in the " last times," and historic events " cast their 
shadows before." History is the great exponent of 

prophecy. 

" God is liis own interpreter, 
And lie will make it plain." 

This question of the literal, bodily coming of Christ 
stands inseparably connected with another; namely, 
whether the martyrs who " lived and reigned with 
Christ a thousand years " Avere literally raised from the 
dead, and thus, in their immortalized bodies, reigned 
with Christ. As to the personal, premillennial com- 
ing of Christ, the affirmative would stand opposed to 
what we have already seen ; namely, that the apostle 
John saw no visible form of the Saviour in his vision 
of the millennium. He saw " thrones," and those who 
" sat upon them," and that " judgment was given them," 
but saw^ no form of Christ. Now, it seems incredible 
that Christ should be present, visibly and bodily, and 
the prophet make no mention of the fact. The govern- 
ment was chiefly administered by those who sat upon 
the thrones. "They lived and reigned with Christ." 
In other places, where Christ was seen in vision, John 
noticed it. See chap, i, 13; v, 5-7, and xiv, 1-14. AYhy 
not mention it here ? We have noticed \X\q plurality of 
thrones, and of those who sat upon them, but no inequal- 
ity of rank or power appears among them — which would 
not be the case if Christ himself sat visibly enthroned. 
Of course we can not dictate how or in what lano-uacfe 
a divine revelation should be given, but we may say 
that it is out of all precedent or analogy with John's 
known examples that Christ should be visibly present, 
sitting upon a visible throne, dispensing civil justice, 
and no mention made of it. Then, it is inexplainable 
that ihe thrones which John saw was in the plural num- 
ber; how many we are not informed, but we know they 



210 ESCMATOLOGY. 

must liave embraced in extent the sovereignties of the 
eartli. 

Still more forcible is the fact that, a little before the 
millennium and after the downfall of antichrist, Christ is 
re23resented as going forth before his followers, he upon 
a wnite horse, " and the armies of heaven followed him 
upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, clean and 
v/hite." Rev. xix, 11-16. This prophetic vision is yet 
to come. 

Now, none will doubt that this representation is 
figurative, setting forth in symbol the triumph of the 
Church after the destruction of the great enemy, anti- 
christ. A little later the millennial scene is opened. Is 
there any more mystery in supposing Christ to be spir- 
itually present in his Church during the thousand years 
than in supposing the vision of Christ, as conqueror, to 
be set forth in the same gorgeous style when it was 
meant only that his spiritual presence in the Church 
supplied that want ? We are here in the depth and 
height of symbolic prophecy, and we must not abandon 
the figurative forms of language. The fall of mystic 
Babylon (antichrist) is dressed in symbols (chap, xviii) ; 
immediately after we have the going forth of Christ, "the 
King of kings and Lord of lords/' for universal conquest 
announced in symbols. Chap, xix, 11-16. Here Christ 
himself is introduced. It was the opening of the mil- 
lennial era. Yet it was Christ in his Church, in spirit- 
ual presence, leading his evangelical army — his faithful 
followers, " those who are called, and chosen, and faith- 
ful." And here, at this point of the scene, a great vic- 
tory is given, described in symbolic style. Chap, xix, 
17-21. Then came the binding of Satan — a symbolic 
act (chap, xx, 1-3); a restraint laid upon the tempt- 
ing power, also described figuratively. And then came 
the millennium. In the line of such symbolism, such 



The Millennium. 211 

symbolic representation of Christ, we naturally expect 
the same in the last as in the preceding. 

Christ, as seems to ns, will not come in person till the 
probation of the race is ended, or till Christ himself 
shall end it. 

It should be borne in mind that so long as the door of 
mercy is opened for tlie return of sinners to God so 
long the original commission of the Church, to warn and 
invite men to return and be saved, remains in force; 
and this present dispensation is commensurate to the 
probation of our race. The dispensations of gospel 
grace and of final judgment — of Church evangelism 
and of no probation — cannot co-exist. But it is clear 
that the door of mercy is not to be closed prior to the 
battle of " Gog and Magog," or immediately after the 
millennium. We must not, therefore, call to our aid 
or adopt any new agencies which supersede or collide 
with the present dispensation of grace. Civil govern- 
ment administered on redemptive principles is the prom- 
inent and fundamental idea. It does not appear that 
the structui-e of society is materially altered, further 
than justice, equal rights, and Christian law and worship 
require. The millennium is simply the consummation 
of what the struggUng Church had sought and suffered 
to attain throuo-h all the asjes. It is the realization of the 
predictive song, " Glory to God in the highest, and on 
earth peace, good will toward men." It is the literal 
fulfillment of the seventh trumpet, the outcome of 
twelve hundred and sixty years of close grapjoling with 
antichrist, according to the triumphal song in heaven: 
''The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms 
of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for 
ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders [the 
representatives of the spiritual Church] which sat before 
God on their seats (Greek, dgovovi;, thrones'], fell upon 



212 ESCHATOLOGY. 

their faces, and worshiped God, saying, " We give thee 
thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and 
art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great 
power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, 
and thy wrath is come, and tiie time of the dead, that 
they should be judged [vindicated], and that thou should- 
est give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to 
the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; 
and shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth." 
Rev. xi, ]5-18. 

The powers of Satan will "make war with the Lamb, 
and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of 
lords and King of kings; and they that are with him 
are called, and chosen, and faithful," " And they over- 
came him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word 
of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto 
the death." Rev. xii, 11, and xvii, 14. Such are the 
tone and spirit and historic outgrowth of the millen- 
nium, and it would be inadmissible to carry our descrip- 
tions of that happy age beyond the requisites of these 
principles. 

It seems to have been overlooked that if the " thou- 
sand years " included the " first resurrection," and the 
resurrection of the martyrs be literal, then the two 
resurrections, separated for more than a thousand years, 
would be either one and the same or two parts of one 
whole, which in either case would be against the con- 
text and without example in holy Scripture; but if they 
were to be separated, as the Scripture account states, 
and the resurrections of the martyrs be literal, then the 
resurrection of the martyrs would be the first resurrec- 
tion, and that of "the rest of the dead" would be the 
second, which no one will allow. 

It is not to be omitted that the pronoun avTr], this, 
is in the singular, not in the plural, which determines 



The ^Millennium. 213 

the closely distinguishing force of the term. Thus we 
read, " This [this itself ] is the first resuiTection ; " not 
" Tliesc [plural] are the first resurrection " — which we 
should read if there were two resurrections, or two 
separate times of resurrection of the pious dead, a 
thousand years apart. 

On the point of the resurrection of the martyrs it is 
evident that if we construe the language literally we 
must, on the same ground, understand the presence of 
Christ to be visible and bodily, and the " reigning " to 
be judicial, or civil. Whatever we may aftirm of the 
one we must affirm of the other also, so far as respects 
the reality, ibrin, and nature of the resurrection. 
Whatever may be our ultimate conclusion it must be in 
harmony with the general analogy of Scripture teach- 
ing as to the time and order of the resurrection, and 
justified by the import of the language employed. Per- 
haps the strongest authority for adopting the literal 
resurrection, so far as the simple language is concerned, 
is given by Dean Alford in his note on the place. He 
says: "If in a passage where two resurrections are 
mentioned, where certain ipv^at e^rjaav [souls lived) at 
the first, and the rest of the veicgoL e^rjaav {dead Uvea) 
only at the end of a specified period after that first — • 
if in such a passage the first resurrection may be un- 
derstood to mean spiritual rising with Christ, while the 
second means literal rising from the dead, then there is 
an end of all significance of language, and Scripture is 
wiped out of all significance as a definite testimony to 
any thing. If the first resurrection is spiritual, then so is 
the second, which I suppose none will be hardy enough to 
maintain. But if the second is literal, then so is the first, 
which, in common with the whole primitive Christian 
Church, and many of the best modern expositors, I do 
maintain, and receive it as an article of faith and hope." 



214 ESCHATOLOGY. 

Op230site to this Lange, in his note on the place, 
says: "The krima [judgment] can be only in the Old 
Testament sense as significant of a princely judicial 
rule, since the special judgment upon the antichristian 
world has been previously executed. It is highly char- 
acteristic that the thrones constitute the foreground of 
the picture. They are significant of the beginning of 
the Church triumphant in this world, the visible ap- 
pearance of the kingdom of God." 

The two resurrections mentioned by Alford are, first, 
that of the martyrs; second, that of "the rest of the 
dead " (ver. 5), supposing all the pious dead to be includ- 
ed in the description. If we admitted the postulates of 
the learned dean we might well accept his conclusions. 
But the sacred writer is careful to distinguish between 
the period of the martyrs and that of "the rest of the 
dead " (ver. 5) — exactly contrary to ^vhat has been as- 
sumed. The martyrs fill up a thousand years : " the 
rest of the dead " do not appear upon the scene " until 
the thousand years were finished." This distinction is 
indicated by the sharp disjunctive particle Se, but: "but 
the rest of the dead lived not again until," etc. The 
transition from what is said of the martyrs to what is 
said of " the rest of the dead " and " the first resurrec- 
tion " is clearly marked, and the adversative significa- 
tion of the conjunction obvious. The sacred penman 
clearly shows that he is speaking of two very distinct 
subjects, bearing distinct and separate dates. 

Still furtlier, an event of great signification appears 
which widens the separation and throws the epoch of 
the millennium and that of " the rest of the dead " still 
wider apart. We speak of the time of the battle of 
" Gog and Magog." According to the usage of Old 
Testament times a military campaign is often repre- 
sented by a single decisive battle. This campaign of 



The Millexnium. 215 

" Gog and Magog " is of indefmito lengtli, thougli hv'ivi' 
as compared to the millennium. It is recorded that 
after the " thousand years " " Satan shall be loosed out 
of his prison: and shall go out to deceive the nations 
which are in the four quarters of the earth [that is, 
every part of tlie habitable earth], Gog and Magog, 
to gather them together to battle: the number of whom 
is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on 
the breadth of the earth," etc. Yers. 7-9. All ihis re- 
quired time, as is also specially indicated by Satan's 
" going out to deceive the nations ; " their "going into 
the four quarters of tlie earth " to rally malcontents, and 
the hostile army being " in number as the sund of the 
sea." This clearly shows that tlie probationary state of 
the race had not terminated, but had been prolonged 
through all the millennial epoch, which also proves that 
the gospel dispensation was yet in operative vigor and 
force. 

Now, it is after all this that we assume the "Jirst 
resurrection^^ iinds its place and the hour of its occur- 
rence. The sacred writer takes special care to avoid 
confusing the time of the "first resurrection" wdth tliat 
of the " thousand years," or millennium. He says, 
specifically, that the "first resurrection" came not in 
" until the thousand years were finished." The ad- 
verbial particle tw^, ^'' until,'''' clearly implies that after 
the "thousand years" were finished, then, and only then, 
the " first resurrection" would come, ^vhich fully agrees 
with the whole analogy of scriptural teacliing. The 
argument of the learned and pious Dean Alford, there- 
fore, founded on the supposed grammatical and historic 
coincidence of the "thousand years" with the "first 
resuri-ection," is not sustained. The sacred av liter evi- 
dently spoke of the "first resurrection" in order to 
guard against error in the relative placing of that grc it 



216 ESCHATOLOGY. 

event, connecting the "first resurrection" with tlie judg- 
ment-day and the general resurrection of the saints, 
as the Saviour and apostles did, and not with the 
millennium. 

Faint are our conceptions of the change in human life 
and society when the true millennial theocracy is real- 
alized. But the theocracy of the Old Testament be- 
comes the Christocracy of the new. Heaven and earth 
will rejoice when the rule of the divine Messiah shall 
universally obtain. In the vision of the millennium, as 
it burst upon the revelator, unsj^eakable beauties rose to 
view, but he could only say, " I saw thrones and they 
sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them." 
This comprehended all. Christ reigns, and the world 
rejoices. Christ reigns, and therein is comprehended all 
good and blessing. No further details are required to 
set forth the world's golden Edenic age. 

As we have said, it does not appear that human pro- 
bation ends here. There are still the righteous and the 
wicked upon the earth. (We shall return to this thought 
in speaking of "God and Magog.") But the righteous 
are in the ascendency, and human laws and government 
are in equity, and universal peace reigns. The world 
is never again to come under the rule and sway of 
wicked men and methods, and the Church is never again 
to be scourged and persecuted by the enemies of Christ. 
But though ail submit by formal profession to Christ 
and his government, still, as we said, all are not saved. 
The submission of the wicked to Christian laws will be 
by constraint, not willin.G^ly; by the force of authority, 
not by love. It is hence insincere, false, and is justly 
denominated in the Old Testament, a " lie." Such is the 
Bible teaching. The apostle Paul states it thus: " Christ 
must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet."' 
1 Cor. XV, 25, 27. Observe, he does not say his enemies 



Thk Millenxium. 217 

shall be converted, but " put under his feet " — that is, 
subjected to Christ's authority. So also Psa. ex, 1 : 
"Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right 
\\ii\\([^ until I make tJi'uie enemies thy footstool.''^ Also 
Heb. X, 12, 13: Christ, " after he had offered one sacri- 
fice for sins forever, sat down on the rii^ht hand of God; 
from henceforth expecting till his enemies he made his 
footstool^ 

The subject is clearly explained by reference to the 
Old Testament. The word koh-hash means lie, false- 
hood, and when applied to those peoples who hated the 
Hebrews, but still submitted to pay tribute to them, 
means a false or feigned submission, or, strictly, their 
submission was a lie, because not voluntary and hearty. 
As in Deut. xxxiii, 29, "And thine enemies shall be 
found liars unto thee; " that is, they shall yield a false, 
because forced, submission, as captives in war, or subju- 
gated provinces. 2 Sam. xxii, 45, "strangers shall sub- 
mit themselves unto thee; " that is, yield a false or insin- 
cere submission unto thee. Also Psa. xviii, 44 : ''As soon 
as they hear of me, they shall obey me : the strangers 
shall submit themselves [insincerely] unto me. The 
strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their 
close places." See also Psa. Ixvi, 3, and Ixxxi, 15. 
Here, then, is an illustration of the universal dominion 
of Christ. The true followers of Christ submit to his 
reign lovingly and with triumphant joy; the "haters 
of the Lord " submit, like captives in war, by the force 
and dread of penalty. Take off government restriction 
now, and how many, left to their choice, would remain 
to yield to the loving precept of law^? 

If we take the " martyrs " of Rev. xx, 4 in an indi- 
vidual and literal sense, and not in the symbolic and 
representative sense, we involve ourselves in unexplain- 

able liabilities. First, it would include only a compar- 
15 



218 ESCHATOLOGY. 

atively small number who would be called to the special 
honor of the millennial triumph. John refers to the 
martyrs four times. See chap, vi, 9; xiii, 15; xvii, 6; 
XX, 4. Their record is prominent and full, but still 
comparatively small; small for such a gathering and 
for such purposes, namely, even to be "kings and priests 
of God and of his Christ." Secondly, the number, ex- 
clusive of the martyrs, is very great, and in myriads of 
cases as holy and faithful as the martyrs themselves, 
confessing Christ at the hazard of life, though not 
" beheaded for Christ," but who " loved not their lives 
imto the death." Rev. xii, 11. Of this class was St. 
John himself. Thirdly, there are millions who ha\ e 
"walked with God " like Enoch, who were never called 
to meet outward and direct persecution, but have lived 
godly lives, as dear to God as martyrs, who are wholly 
excluded from the special honors of this millennium. 

Add to this that the literal and personal construction 
of Rev. XX, 4, involves the visible reign with Christ. 
But what will be the end or object of Christ's visible 
personal coming and reign at this time ? His advent at 
this time must have an object, or necessity, equal to so 
great an event. But it is clearly assured to us that all 
the long centuries from his ascension till the millennial, 
the suffering saints have rested on the promise of the 
written word, " Loy I am with you alway, even to the 
end of the world," or age. Matt, xxviii, 20. With 
Christ in spiritual presence they have fought the fight, 
and gained the victory; "And they overcame him 
[Satan ver, 9] by the blood of the lamb, and by the 
word of their testimony." Rev. xii, 11. The millennium 
itself is the fruit and result of their faithful activities 
and patient sufferings, sustained by the spiritual pres- 
ence of Christ, and his effective providential and co- 
operative administration as "King of kings and Lord of 



The Millennium. 219 

lords." And now the victory is gained, and the just 
administration of moral government is confessed in the 
M'orJd-wide anthem: "And they sing the song of Moses 
the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 
Great and marvelous are thy works. Lord God Al- 
mighty, just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 
AVho shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? 
for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and 
worship before thee; for thy judgments are made 
manifest." Rev. xv, 3, 4. We say after all tliese glo- 
rious consummations, achieved under the reign of 
Christ with gospel instrumentalities, what is the specific 
object of his second appearing just at the opening of 
the millennial era ? It is not for the final judgment ; 
this is distinctly placed later on. It is not for special 
judgments on the antichristian nations; these have been 
accomplished in the wrathful vengeance of the " seven 
vials." It is not for the introduction of the millennium; 
this is already done, and John's vision of it was after it 
was introduced. The scene given by the apostle was 
that oC an inaugurated, not of an inaugurating, e^^och; a 
completed act, and not one in process of completion. 

Besides, human probation Avas not ended as yet. 
Through all the millennial epoch unconverted men lived 
in the earth and mixed with the holy seed. The ene- 
mies of the cross submitted to the Christian rule by con- 
straint during the thousand years; but after this Satan 
was loosed from his prison and went out " to decei\ e 
the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth." 
His deceitful efforts were not without their evil fruit. 
The battle of "Gog and Magog" evidenced a powerful 
enemy which could yet be brought into the field, and il- 
lustrated the deep-seated enmity of the natural heart 
against Christ and his Gospel. This may seem incredible, 
that men should still resist the Holy Ghost ; but not more 



220 ESCHATOLOGY. 

SO tlian tlie conduct of tlie Jews wlio saw Lazarus when 
he came forth from the grave, by the voice of Christ, 
and then and there consulted how they might kill him; 
nor than the Sanhedrin instigating the mad cry of the 
rabble, saying, "Crucify him, crucify him;" though 
he had only rebuked sin, and finished a life of immac- 
ulate purity and benevolence, " who did no sin, neither 
Avas guile found in his mouth," of wliom a heathen 
judge could say, "Why, what evil hath he done?" 
Nor is the case more incredible than that of stubbornly 
resisting men of this age, against the convictions of 
reason and Scripture. " The carnal mind is enmity 
against God, and is not subject to the law of God." 
It does not appear that the millennial light and motive 
power for persuading men to accept the Gospel is to 
be greatly superior than at the present hour. There 
will be a cumulative testimony and moral influence as 
the Gospel spreads and living witnesses increase, but 
not in a ratio or degree to force the freedom of the 
will or abate the natural dislike of the cross of Christ. 
Men could then, as now, harden their hearts, and their 
hardness of heart would be in an inverse ratio to the 
light and gracious influences resisted. 

From all we know, therefore, of the order of events 
at this period of the world's history, by the latest and 
fullest Messianic record, the millennium is the fruitage, 
or full development, of the gospel scheme, so far as it 
connects with human instrumentality. All beyond 
Christ will accomplish from the resources of his own 
power. The millennium is the fulfillment of the pri- 
meval promise, " The seed of the woman shall bruise 
the serpent's head." Gen. iii, 15. It is the fulfillment 
of promises which reach down to the judgment-day, 
and the end of human probation. The second coming 
of Christ, as we read the Scriptures, comes in immedi- 



The Millennium. 221 

ately after the millennium, and the battle of Gog and 
Magog, and is described in Rev. xx, 11. 

As to the duration of this happy state of the Church, 
the sacred Scriptures limit it to a thousand years. Tliis 
number of years has been variously understood. First, 
it has been taken according to symbolic time, a day for 
a year; thirty days for a lunar month, equal to thirty 
years ; three hundred and sixty days for a year, equal 
to three hundred and sixty years; making a thousand 
symbolic years equal to three hundred and sixty thou- 
sand solar years. But this is so out of proportion to 
any and all of the known prophetic epochs that we 
may safely set it aside without further notice. Sec- 
ondly, the thousand years have been taken proA'erbially 
for a round number, an indefinitely long joeriod of 
time, Avhich would be more probable. Thirdly, it has 
been taken literally for a thousand years of solar time; 
and this would not be without precedent. Prophecy 
has made its mea-surements of solar time in Abraham's 
time (Gen. xv, 13) and in Jeremiah's time, relating to 
the captivity in Babylon. Jer. xxv, 11-12. Also it 
would not be out of harmony with the general usage 
as to the length of the prophetic epochs. 

" Hasten, Lord, the glorious time 

"Wlien, beneath MessialTs sway, 
Every nation, every clime. 

Shall the gospel call obey. 
Mightiest kings his power shall own, 

Heathen tribes his name adore, 
Satan and his hosts o'erthrown 

Bound in chains shall hurt no more." 



222 ESCHATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

BATTLE OF GOG AND MAGOG. 

The millennial period is about to close. The long 
and blessed epoch has fulfilled one of the most thor- 
oughly foretold and described events, and series of 
events, the world has ever experienced, or will ex23eri- 
ence, until the resurrection and judgment-day. It 
would appear to the mind of reason that a thousand 
years of so happy a state of society would suffice to 
bring all men to submit to Christ, " the Lord of lords." 
But the mystery of iniquity has not been fathomed. 
Against all reason, and all the worth of human well- 
being, still "the wicked will do wickedly; and none of 
the wicked sliall understand: but the' wise shall under- 
stand." Dan. xii, 10. 

It must be understood that during the millennial 
epoch human probation continues. It still remains 
possible for the righteous to " fall from their own 
steadfastness," and for the wicked " to turn from his sin, 
and walk in the statutes of life, and live," Ezek. xxxiii, 
14, 15. A great spiritual awakening and reformation 
was experienced immediately after the fall of anti- 
christ (chap, xvi, 19), in the opening of the millennium 
(chap, xix, 11-16), but all were not saved. The vic- 
tories of the Lamb, however, were so powerful and 
fundamental, and his judgment so manifest, that during 
this happy period our Immanuel — God witli us — swayed 
the scepter of peace. 

But these years of blissful human life on earth were 
drawing to a close, and the elements of rebellion be- 



Battle of Gog and Magog. 223 

coming restless. The tempter, according to prediction, 
was to be loosed. The Church was to be called to yet 
another test, and the old rebellion was stirred for 
another attempt to acquire the dominion of the world. 
The sacred penman thus records it: 

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan 
shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to 
deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the 
earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to bat- 
tle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And 
they went up on the breadth of the earth, and com- 
passed tlie camp of the saints about, and the beloved 
city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and 
devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was 
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast 
and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day 
and night for ever and ever." Chap, xx, V-IO. 

This insurrectionary movement against the Lord of 
life and glory is called "the battle of Gog and Magog." 
But who are Gog and Magog ? Are they persons, or 
are they characters? Are they historic, or are they 
symbolic personages ? Undoubtedly they are tlie latter, 
tliough they here bear a histoiic origin. 

Magog is the name of Japheth's second son, and he, 
with Meshech and Tubal, brothers of Magog (Gen. x, 2), 
settled in Caucasus and the northern sections of Ar- 
menia and Media. This was the region throughout 
which the ten tribes of Israel were dispersed. Ezekiel 
(chaps, xxxviii and xxxix), thus speaks of tliem. But 
Ezekiel speaks of Meshech and Tubal as the " land of 
Magog," which is in accord with those primitive times, 
in which the land permanently occupied by the tribe 
takes the name of the chief. It is familiarly known to 
Bible students that the Caucasus, or region between the 
Euxine and Caspian Seas, was held by the Scythians. 



224 ESCHATOLOGY. 

It is not without cause, therefore, that the country of 
Magog (Scythians) is mentioned as the noted seat and 
retreat of the enemies of Christ. From time immemo- 
rial it has been inhabited by intractable nomadic tribes, 
which have been the scourge and terror of the East.* 

When King David would describe his imperiled life in 
Arabia he simply said, " Woe is me, that I sojourn in 
Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! " Psa. cxx, 5. 
Meshech, brother of Magog (Gen. x, 2), the representa- 
tive of northern (Scythian) barbarism, and Kedar, sou 
of Ishmael, the southern or Arabian. Gen. xxv, 13. As 
for Gog, he is the prince or chief of Magog. 

All we seek to establish at this point is that the use 
of "Gog and Magog" is proverbial, not literal. Their 
hostile relation to Christ and his Church had passed 
into a proverb. They hated Christians and their doc- 
trines, and, like those Avho crucified the Saviour, the 
greater the light which had been resisted, the more 
embittered the enmity which sought to destroy his 
followers. 

It is further recorded that, " when the thousand years 
are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and 
shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four 
quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog." This language 
makes the " four quarters of the earth " simply equal to 
" Gog and Magog," or the realm of roving robbers. 
The elements of hostility to Christ are dispersed and 
scattered over the earth, and " Gog and Magog " are 
simply this world-wide disorganized enmity to Christ. 

* " The famous Caucasian wall, probably erected by some of the 
successors of Alexander the Great as a defense against the incursions 
of the nortliern barbarians, and which extended from Derbena, on the 
western shore of the Caspian, to near the Euxine or Black Sea, is still 
called ' The wall of Gog and Magog.- " — McCliiitock and Strong, Cyclo- 
paedia, art. "Magog." 



The Battle of Gog and Magog. 225 

To rally and organize these is now the work of Satan. 
We are not to suppose that these enemies of Christ 
are in the majority, or that they are in government 
offices and position to aid the rebellion. They were 
numerous but not equal to the reigning saints. It is 
said, " Satan shall go out to deceive the nations which 
are in the four quarters of the earth." This evidences 
that the soldiers and leaders of the movement were not 
Avell informed, were deceived as to their power to meet 
the saints in battle. The "four quarters of the earth" 
signify the nations living remote from the center of 
population and of power. We must treat the whole 
subject as a reality. The thousand years of the reign 
of Christ with his Church is a reality. The revolt of 
the disaffected people under Christian rule is a reality. 
The deceit and subtlety of Satan, stimulating the masses 
to throw off the Christian government, and set up a 
lieathen or antichristian dominion in its stead, is a 
reality, and must find its place in history in its time. 
When mystic Babylon fell to rise no more (Rev. xix, 
11-21) and Christ "the King of kings and Lord of 
lords " rode forward on his " white horse," followed by 
the Christian array clothed in " white linen," to finish 
the grand conquest of his kingdom, the shattered forces 
of the enemy still made a last, desperate rally to restore 
the " mother of harlots " to her lost position — but it was 
vain. And now the folly and madness are renewed; 
that at the opening of the millennium, and this at its 
close. The result of the latter is tersely given: "And 
they went up on the breadth of the earth, and com- 
passed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved 
city : and fire came down from God out of heaven, and 
devoured them." 

The state of general society during the millennium 
would seem to be natural as in former times, except 



226 ESCHATOLOGY. 

that the ruling power in the governing clepartment, and 
the walks of private life, and of industry, trade, and 
commerce are faithfully subordinate to the will of 
Christ. There is no mention of persons who have been 
converted or have apostatized during the thousand 
years, but we may presume many will turn to God. 
The probation of the race is not ended, and until it is 
the faithful Church will stand true to her commission 
and proclaim " The Spirit and the bride [the Church] 
say, Come. And let him that heareth say. Come. And 
let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let 
him take the water of life freely." Rev. xxii, 17. We 
cannot say how long this period of disturbance will con- 
tinue, but the revelator says, " Satan must be loosed a 
little season." Rev. xx, 3. 

The overthrow of the infatuated forces of Gog and 
Magog would seem to be effected by signal judgment, 
without the intervention of man. The hour is the hour 
of destiny. The gospel scheme is fulfilled. The pro- 
bation of the race is ended. Between this and the com- 
ing of Christ for final judgment no act is recorded. 

"Great God! what do T see and hear ! 

The end of things created ! 
The Judge of man I see appear, 

On clouds of glory seated ; 
The trumpet sounds: the graves restore 
The dead which they contained before; 

Prepare, my soul, to meet him! " 



Christ's Work of Restitution. 227 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CHRIST'S WORK OF RESTITUTION". 

Dignity of Man's Nature, or Scale of Being. 

Section I. — Man's Dignity in the Scale of Being. 

We now enter upon Christ's work of restitution with 
a view to its final finish, redeeming all that has been 
said by promise and proj)hecy all along the ages. 
" And who art thou, O great mountain ? Before Zerub- 
babel thou shalt become a plain: and lie shall bring 
forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying, 
Grace, grace unto it." Zech. iv, 7. It seems proper to 
devote some general remarks to the subject of man's 
dignity and destiny before entering at large upon the 
resurrection and its concomitance. 

The Holy Scriptures speak of the great redemptive 
work in the light of a restitution ; the restoring, or plac- 
ing things back to their primeval condition. And this 
restitution is fourfold ; namely, first, the restoring of 
the human race morally, so far as they have accepted 
Christ, to the perfect image and fellowship of God, as 
contemplated and designed in their creation; secondly, 
restoring their external and social condition to a rank 
of honor, adaptation, and blessedness equal to the ca- 
pacity and requirements of the redeemed ; thirdly, 
the physical condition of the place or orb which the 
righteous will inherit, and fourthly, the reversion of 
moral government to its primeval administration, or the 
administration of moral government without the proviso 
of a further offer of j)ardon, called " the delivering up 



228 ESCHATOLOGY. 

of the [mediatorial] kingdom to God, even the Father." 
1 Cor. XV, 24. Thenceforward the moral government 
is to proceed upon principles of pure law, as in man's 
primeval, holy state. 

This is the end of human probation — the outmost 
limit of the system of gospel grace. Then shall be real- 
ized and fulfilled the awful words of destiny — to the 
wicked more solemn than hte voices and thunders of 
Sinai — "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and 
he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is 
righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, 
let him be holy still." Rev. xxii, 11. This is the official 
announcement of the end of the dispensation of the gos- 
pel grace and human probation. 

The date of this end of the gospel age, or epoch, is 
after tlie millennium; after the battle of Gog and Ma- 
gog (Rev. XX, 7-10); after the conflagration of the 
world (2 Pet. iii) ; after the announcement of the mar- 
riage of the Lamb (Rev. xix, 7 ; xxi, 9) ; after the first 
resurrection (Rev. xx, 5, 6); after the final judgment 
day (Rev. xx, 11-15); after the "new heaven and new 
earth " (Rev. xxi, 1) ; at the point wdiere the saints, now 
glorified with Christ, do enter upon their final reward. 
" Then cometh the end, when he [Christ] shall have de- 
livered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he 
shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. 
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his 
feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 
. . . And when all things shall be subdued unto him, 
then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that 
put all things under him, that God may be all in all." 
1 Cor. XV, 24-26, 28. These great light-signals, with 
others we might mention, are yet to be realized in the 
experience of the saints. The kingdom of Christ, as to 
its aggressive, evangelistic form and function, will ter- 



Chkist's Work of Restitutiox. 229 

minate; but as to its triumphs, its distinct, human indi- 
viduality, its grand results, its glorious reward, it shall 
be as Daniel saw it: "And the kingdom and dominion, 
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the 
Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
and all dominions shall serve and obey him." Dan. 
vii, 2 7. 

It must be remembered that in the redemptive 
scheme Christ publicly assumes the full mediatorial 
responsibility. This embraces three compartments, 
namely, oi 2:>r op het (teacher), 2:>r lest (atoner or priest), 
and 7ci/)(/ (ruler). When Jesus said, "All j^ower is 
given unto me in heaven and in earth " (Matt, xxviii, 18), 
he declares only what is the true extent of investiture of 
powei- necessary to effectuate the purposes of God in 
redemption. When, therefore, he assumes the kingly 
power (and he assumed it at the moment the plan of re- 
demption vras determined) he assumes it mediatorially; 
tliat is, for a period, or until the probation of our race 
shall cease. The provisional reign of the Mediator 
marks a new administration of moral government; that 
is, an administration under a proviso of pardon and 
upon given conditions. This form of government was 
to continue only till the terms of pardon were with- 
drawn, and the probation of the race ended. The eye 
of the apostle Peter rested on this ultimate view of the 
divine plan when he said, in solemn admonition: "And 
he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached 
unto you: whom the heavens must receive u?iHl the 
times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken 
by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world 
began." Acts iii, 20, 21. Here is restitution, its im- 
port, date, limitations, and extent. It is restitution in 
Christ and bv Christ. 



230 ESCHATOLOGY. 

Two questions here engross "the mind that hath wis- 
dom;" namely, What is man? and, What is man to be? 
Being and destiny. Great words these which define 
our subject. Too little do men consider them. If we 
are able to answer to the one, we are able to form a 
proper conception of the other. If we know what we 
are, we can form a just idea of what we might and 
ought to be, according to the original idea and purpose 
of the Creator; because we know from all analogy in 
nature, as well as from the clearer authority of revela- 
tion, that it is the will and purpose of God to mature 
and perfect the being he has given us by developing 
the utmost capacity of our nature along the line of our 
species nnd his own most perfect and holy law. 

" What is man ? " is a question asked of old, and suf- 
ficiently answered for all moral and practical ends. " In 
the image of God created he him," is the signet of his 
Creator. No other terrestrial creature bears it. We 
have not fathomed the mystery of this " image of God." 
Redemption brings it out in part in this life, and will 
complete it only in the consummations of eternit}^ 
Every holy soul longs to know its fuller import. The 
image of God ! To be like God ! Who can compre- 
hend the honor, dignity, and blessedness of this state? 
It was the longing desire, in their pure natures, of our 
first parents. The temptation of Eve ran in this direc- 
tion. "In the day ye eat thereof ye shall be as God 
[Elohim], knowing good and evil." Satan knew that 
a holy soul could not be tempted at once into open and 
avowed sin; but that if a holy end were presented, with 
only an unlawful means of attaining it, by artfully cov- 
ering up the snare of the latter he might succeed. The 
end proposed was divine and blessed, the means only 
wrong. The end was so desirable, so in harmony with 
all her aspirations, that ^ihe might have sui)posed the 



Christ's Work of Restitution. 201 

tempter to be a lioly being, and her suspicions were 
lulled. "She being deceived was in the transgression," 
Many errors have stealthily insinuated themselves into 
the human mind, in the same wa}^, since that event. 

A remarkable tribute to the dignity of human nature 
is given (Psa. viii, 5), "Thou hast made him [man] a 
little lower than the angels." So our English version, 
following the Septuagint. But the Hebrew text stands: 
"Thou hast made him less, a little, than God" (Elo- 
him), and adds, "Thou wilt crown him with glory and 
honor; thou wilt make him rule over the works of thy 
hands." It is true that the author of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews quotes the Septuagint (chap, ii, 7) and not the 
Hebrew; but, as Professor Stuart observes, it was prob- 
ably because that was sufficient to serve his argument, 
though to have quoted the HebreAV would have given 
it still greater force. Perhaps, also, it was because the 
Hebrew people outside of Palestine were better ac- 
qainted with the Septuagint than with the Hebrew. 
Certain it is that Elohim is nowhere else translated, or 
translatable, angels. It sometimes denotes princes or 
rulers, because in this function they represent God, but 
never ^angels. What, then, do we make of the passage ? 
Simply this : that, in the order or rank of being, man, 
not angels, stands next to God. This also is carried 
out in the same argument from the Epistle to the He- 
brews above referred to. The author had placed Clirist 
above angels (chap, i), and now (chap, ii, 9) places him a 
little lower than the angels by " the suffering of death;" 
but immediately adds, he is "crowned with glory and 
honor; " that is, Christ placed our humanity in his 
person, somewhat below the rank of angels, by the suf- 
fering of death, but has carried our humanity, not 
merely up to the rank of angels, but has crowned it in 
his person, and as our representative, Avith glory and 



232 EsCHATOLOGY. 

honor, even (as by other Scriptures we know) "at the 
right hand of the majesty on high," " angels and au- 
thorities and powers being made subject to him." 
Here, then, in Christ, and in him alone, our human nat- 
ure attains, or regains, its true dignity. 

We have not space to pursue the argument, but there 
are elements in the human nature which represent God 
which are not found in angels. What is meant by 
man's formal investiture of dominion over the terres- 
trial works of God ? The idea of vicegerency in the 
divine government is nowhere found but in the history 
of man. His government of the elements, and of all 
living things in nature, is a delegated authority, subject 
only to the claims and provisions of the moral law. 

This original investiture of dominion is given in Gen. 
i, 29, 30; re-affirmed, Psa. viii, 6-8, and often in other 
places. " The earth hath he given to the children of 
men." As to angels, they are "ministering spirits, sent 
forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salva- 
tion." This idea of government is a title of rank. 
There are unexplained references to it in the New 
Testament. " In the regeneration, w^hen the Son of 
man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall 
sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel." "And I appoint unto j^ou a kingdom, as my 
Father hath appointed unto me." "Fear not, little 
flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you 
the kingdom." "Do ye not know that the saints shall 
judge the world?" "He that overcometh . . .to him 
will I give power over the nations." " And hast made 
us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign 
on the earth." "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon 
them and judgment was given unto them . . . and they 
lived and reigned with Christ a thousand j^ears." Not 
less than the last quoted passage, in significance, is the 



Christ's Work of Restitution. 233 

text (Psa. xlix, 14), ^' Death shall feed on them, and tlie 
upright shall have dominion over them in the morning." 
Morning here is not simply equivalent to early, soo?i, 
immediateli/. It means morning, the break of day. 
The Psalmist is speaking of " death." There is no 
morning after death until the resurrection — " the first 
resurrection" — the resurrection of the just. "If we 
suffer with him [Christ] we shall also reign with him." 
" The saints of the most high shall take the kingdom, 
and possess the kingdom forever, even for ever and ever." 
These and such like allusions and promises must mean 
something. The element of dominion is clearly stated 
as entering into the completeness of the reward of the 
righteous. Somewhere in the government of God, 
somehow in the endless future, this kingly and j^rincely 
dignity will be realized, and the original investiture for- 
feited by sin will be restored in Christ. It is partially 
realized in this life. Christian nations, in as far as they 
conform to the kingdom of Christ, now represent the 
power of the world. If ever civil government on earth 
shall reach a perfect standard it will be by Christian 
ethics, doctrine, and law. Law and government must 
come back to Christianity and to Christian adminis- 
trators, in joint rule with Christ. This is what John 
saw. Rev. xx, 4. The point intended here is, that do- 
minion is a birthright inheritance of man, a component 
part of his original endowment, restored only in 
Christ. 

The human nature assumed by Christ had a twofold 
object ; namely, to make atonement for the sins of the 
world, and to take in his own hands, as Mediator, the 
government of the world. In him the administration 
of moral government is mediatorial. In our nature he 
makes atonement for sin ; in our nature he rules the 
worlds. The moral government is mediatoriallv admin- 
16 



234 ESCIIATOLOGY. 

istered by sustaining the autliority of law, and at the 
same time providing for pardon to the guilty. Won- 
derful mystery! But in this redemptive economy Christ 
carries with him our human nature. Both in his death 
and his exaltation — his sufferings and his infinite honor 
— he offers man a participation. "If we suffer with 
him, we shall also reign with him." God "raised him 
from, the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the 
heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, 
and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, 
not only in this Avorld, but also in that which is to 
come." Eph. i, 20, 21. "Wherefore God also hath 
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is 
above eA^ery name." Phil, ii, 9. " Being made so much 
better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more ex- 
cellent nnme than they." Heb, i, 4. " To him that 
overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, 
even as I also overcame, and am set down with my 
Father on his throne." Hev. iii, 21. 

We say, then, thnt the honor and dignity of our nat- 
m-e secured by Christ in his redemptive Avork implies, 
as a restrictive act, that Avhich was given by the crea- 
tive grant — namely, dominion. Christ, then, came to 
restore, to reinstate, man to the dignity and rank con- 
templated in his creation. The existence of civil gov- 
ernment, family government, control of all animals — 
aboA^e all, the mysteries of generation, blending in one 
form of vivification the mortal Avith the immortal, the 
intellectual Avith the material, the moral Avith the inor- 
ganic, all go to show this. No \vonder that Eve (the 
living one) "the mother of all living," upon beholding 
her first-born, exclaimed, " I have gotten a man from 
Jehovah." Gen. iv, 1. The idea of "race" breaks upon 
the mind in close connection with Jehovah, "the most 
high God." This idea of family^ race, so fundamental 



Chkist's AYork of Restitutiox. 235 

to society and government, is unknown to angels. Oui' 
Lord distinguishes the two. Matt, xxii, 28, 30. The 
idea of race forever marks a new species, and as the 
analogy of the lower orders in nature teaches that every 
successive species is an advance upward in the scale of 
being, so here the correlations of human being betoken, 
not a deteriorating humiliation, but an upward grade 
of existence. AYe say, then, there are in humanity des- 
tinies yet inconceivable. " It doth not yet appear what 
^ve shall be." 1 John iii, 2. "And they [the saints] shall 
reign for ever and ever." Rev. xxii, 5. And so the sacred 
Scriptures every-where indicate. Redemption speaks 
the worth and rank of man. No further argument is 
needed. Sin only preponderates the scale of rank and 
dignity against us. Christ only restores us. 

Sectiox II. — HuMAX Specific Identity Implies the 
Soma, or Earthly Body. 
We have given a few suggestions as to man's honor- 
able rank in creation. But another question arises, 
" AVhat is man to be ? " What is that summiim honuni 
which is the realized, ultimate idea of the Creator in giv- 
ing man being? Who can answer this momentous ques- 
tion ? We can only advance a little way. If we follow 
revelation and the analogies of nature we must resolve 
the ultimate good into the full development of our being 
and its faculties in harmonious relation to tlie will of 
God. If our being is a blessing, the perfection of that 
being in all its potentialities must be the greatest good 
of which tlie being itself is capable. This, then, is the 
good of our being. In this is eternal blessedness. It 
is reached and consummated only in the future state. 
But without now going forward to that inviting future, 
let us pause and consider one great truth which our 
statement implies, If that be true which we have pos- 



236 ESCHATOLOGY. 

tulated, then it must also be true that the specific iden- 
tity of the human being can never be changed. On 
earth, in heaven, or in hell, man must forever remain 
man, not only as to his individuality, but as to his spe- 
cific human type. Changes he will meet with in the 
progress of his being, but not such as to alter or change 
his specific status in the ranks of existence. He must 
remain human. The original type idea of being, which 
was in the mind of the Creator when he fashioned hira, 
must remain; time and eternity cannot efface or com- 
mute it. It is not relevant to our purpose to enter upon 
the discussion of what constitutes species, and what con- 
stitutes the immortality of the human species.* 

One of the first efforts of evolutionists is to make the 
word 5^:?ecz(3s ambiguous and indeterminate. But hybrids 
and simple varieties are not species. Whether, as we 
believe, species is a definite force or quality impressed 
or concentrated upon the germ or monad, we stop not 
to discuss. It is enough to know that a species is a 
permanent form of being, an embodiment of an original 
type idea of creative wisdom, with its own laws of de- 
velopment and its own ultimate form, which cannot be 
changed without destroying the identity of the creature. 

* '-'PersoTz," snys an acute author, "lias now come into use lo ex- 
press a nature self-conscious, -capable of introspection, even to tlie 
thought of the ego, and self-consciously determining itself." 

Another says : ^'Identity is that by which a thing is itself, and not 
any thing else, in which sense identity differs from similitude, as well 
as diversity." 

'•A mass of inorganic matter loses its identity if one atom is sub- 
tracted. But it is different with organic beings. Here the identity 
does not depend on the cohesion of its constituted particles, anyhow 
united in one mass, but on such a disposition and organization of 
parts as are fit to receive and distribute Kfe and nourishment to the 
whole frame." And thus the resurrection of the body may undergo 
change without impf'iring its iduut'ty. 



Christ's Work of Restitutiox. 23 7 

AVlien God made all organic things he ordained the 
lines of species by making each plant and animal "after 
its kind," to bring forth "after its kind." Here, then, we 
rest. Human nature, as rein-esenting a species of or- 
ganic life, must retain the essential characteristics of 
the species while it exists. To change these character- 
istics is to extinguish the species, and to extinguish the 
species is to destroy personal identity. The perfection 
of man is not to develop him into some other being, but 
to consummate what he is. 

Paleontology teaches us that it is the order of God 
to extinguish S2:>ecies, and to replace them by others, 
new and improved, but it does not teach us that it is 
the divine order to develop species into new and im- 
proved ones. Succession of species does not prove or 
"suggest" the transmutation of species, as has been 
claimed. 

In regard to man, then, his specific identity involves 
the mysterious union of two natures, a material and a 
spiritual. Destroy either of these and you destroy the 
peculiar type idea of his being; that is, you annihilate 
his human identity. In this compound or twofold nat- 
ure he was created. In this personality he develops 
and matures, acquires his earthly history, forms his 
character for eternity, is judged — " judged," says Peter, 
"according to men in the flesh" — receives his reward, 
says Paul, according to "things done in the body." 
1 Pet. iv, 6; 2 Cor. v, 10. 

In heaven the souls of the saints, as seen by John in 
the Apocalypse, were always distinguished from the 
angels. Their history was an earthly history. They 
had " come up out of great tribulation," were "' re- 
deemed from among men," were "redeemed out of 
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation," 
"redeemed from the earth." But this earthly history, 



238 ESCHATOLOGY. 

SO honorable to them now in heaven, was made in tlieir 
human body. It never belonged to the soul in a sepa- 
rate state. In such a state they could not thus have 
toiled and suffered — in such a state they would not 
have been human. Their j)resent state is "interme- 
diate," imperfect, waiting to be " clothed upon, that mor- 
tality may be swallowed np of life," " waiting for the 
adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body." When 
this consummation shall be reached the perfect human 
being will be restored. Then will appear the dignity 
of human nature, according to the original idea of God. 
For this, says Paul, we are in "earnest expectation;" 
for this we are " waiting." 

If the history of their earthly life is to be retained 
by the saints in glory (and that it is is most unequivo- 
cally taught in Scripture), then those sympathies and 
affections which are essential to their human identity 
must also be retained. I^ot, indeed, in every particular 
as they appeared in the earthly life, while the physical 
nature still lay under the curse of original sin, but so 
far as they essentially inhered in their specific type of 
being. But this could not be, so far as appears to our 
reason, without a resurrection of the body, and its re- 
union with the immortal spirit. I am aware of the 
doctrine of the trichotomy assumed in holy Scripture 
before it was taught in Greece. Admit, then, that man 
has a ^^hocly, soul, and spirit,''^ that the spirit or mind 
is the superior and the body inferior, and that the spirit 
could exist independently and separately without the 
body, still it does not hence follow that the spirit could, 
in such a case, supply the affectionate and sympathetic 
nature independently of the body. Much less can it 
prove that a perfect human being could be formed with- 
out an organic body. If the mind, or pneuma, could 
retain its intellectual activity, unimpaired, without the 



Christ's Work of Restitution. 239 

body, it certainly does not follow that the soul, or 
psyche, or psychological life, would suffer no loss in that 
condition. We know that the psychology of angels is 
not identical with that of man, for in the great woj'k of 
redemption, wherein the depth and mysteries of sym- 
pathetic life were to be fathomed and comprehended, 
it was not sufficient that Christ should "take on him the 
nature of angels," but a perfect human nature; that is, 
a body as well as a soul and spirit. This was fitting to 
him (Heb. ii, 10,); it was both a moral and physical 
fitness, and it was necessary [opheile, ver. 17), not 
only in order to offer a bloody sacrifice, but to sympa- 
thize (chap, iv, 15,) with our infirmities, and be a 
compassionate (ii, 17,) high-priest; that is, j^sychologic- 
ally he could not be a perfect man, with the perfect 
sympathetic nature of a man, without a perfect human 
body. We say, then, that a perfect man must possess 
a perfect affectional nature of the human type, and 
this cannot be without the human body. 

Section III. — Changed but Identical. 

We have briefly spoken of what man is, as to his 
honorable rank in creation. We have also in part 
glanced at what he is to be, in the perfection of his 
being, and that Christ, from the necessity of his incar- 
nation, has settled the fact of the necessity of the or- 
ganic body to constitute, with the soul and spirit, a 
perfect man. The resurrection of the body is also a 
necessity to the perfection of man according to his 
species; that is, according to the original idea and pur- 
pose of creative wisdom. 

But, passing these thoughts, we would say that in 
fitting man for his eternal reward of blessedness cer- 
tain changes must pass upon his organic nature. We 
speak not now of his moral but his organic, or physical. 



240 ESCHATOLOGY. 

nature. How repeatedly do the Scriptures admonish 
us of this : " We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be 
changed!''' " The dead shall be raised incorruptible 
and we shall be changed^ Christ " shall change our 
vile [dishonored] body." The body " is sown in cor- 
ruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dis- 
honor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it 
is raised in power: it is sown a natural body, it is 
raised a spiritual body." We cannot pause here to ex- 
plain these blessed yet mysterious words, but these or- 
ganic changes wrought upon the human body must not 
be understood as effecting a change in the specific type 
of our being. They cannot be radical and specific, but 
are limited to certain accidents, or temporary conditions 
of the body, which adapt it to this earth and the pecul- 
iar uses of this present life. So Christ says that in the 
resurrection "they neither marry nor are given in mar- 
rias^e, but are as the angels of God in heaven." Not 
angels, but still human, though in respect of marriage 
and family life they are equal to, upon a parity with, 
angels. So, also, the apostle declares that the mode of 
sustentation shall not be in heaven as now in the earth, 
for God shall bring to an end (cause to cease, or pass 
away) both the entire digestive system of our nature, 
and that provision of perishable food by which the 
body now subsists. " Meats for the belly [the digest- 
ive organs] and the belly for meats, but God shall abol- 
ish both it [the digestive system] and them " that is, 
the meats. 1 Cor, vi, 13. Thus, also, it is clear that 
both the procreative and digestic organs are not essen- 
tial to the identity of the body, and, being temporary, 
will be omitted (abolished) in the resurrection. John 
says, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be;" that 
is, there is found no similitude of it in the realm of ma- 
terial nature. But we know that, thougli great and uii- 



Christ's Work of Restitutiox. 241 

known changes shall be made, the identity of the human 
type of being shall remain, and this identity, as we 
have said, implies the embodiment of the pneuma and 
t\\Q psyche — the mind and soul — in a literal, material, 
organic soma, or body, now newly fashioned as to cer- 
tain provisional and tempoi'ary parts, adapting it to the 
higher w^ants and capacities of the lyneuma, or spirit, 
the intellectual part of our humanity. Nor all or any 
of those disabilities which sin has imposed, nor yet all 
or any of those temporary and provisional endowments 
which merely adapt us to our present preparatory life 
and merely earthly destinies, but that only shall remain 
Avhich is essential ^^er se to our grand and peculiar 
type of being, as it existed of old, with all its ultimate 
capabilities, perfection, and uses, in the mind of the 
Creator, 

And this idea of succcssional stages of the same 
being, rising as by regular climax to inconceivable 
honor, knowledge, and felicity, is in accordance with 
what w^e know of God's ways. " Noio w^e see through 
a glass, darkly, then face to face. N'ow we know in 
part, then shall we know even as we are known." 
" When that which is perfect is come, then that which 
is in part shall be done away." The noio and theii are 
emphatic. " Once I was a child," says Paul ; " but 
when I became a man I put away childish things." 
The change was great ; his early thoughts, like his 
early garments, w^ere put away when he became a man ; 
yet his identity was not changed. In both stages he 
was human, equally human. And thus it is with the 
true Church of God. It is a unity in all essential points 
in all ages, but the ISTew Testament type, though built 
upon and emerging out of the Old, retains the identity 
of the chnrch of Abraham and Moses. So with reve- 
lation and prophecy. From a primordial seed-promise 



242 ESCHATOLOGY. 

in paradise have come forth the dispensations and reve- 
lations of the subsequent ages. Abel and Moses, and 
John and Paul, meet in organic unity in that one chang- 
ing and yet unchangeable mystic body of wliich Christ 
is the head, and recite the universal creed — " one Lord, 
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all," 
" of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is 
named." 

But in maturing and perfecting our human nature 
two things are to be remembered: first, that the laws 
of growth in knowledge and holiness and in consequent 
felicity are unchangeable ; secondly, that nothing is 
accounted as growth which is not in harmony with the 
original mind and purpose of God in creation, and con- 
formable to the idea and model of human perfection in 
redemption. As to tlie laws of growth mentally, 
heaven is not different from earth. Heaven is not a 
state of mere passive receptivity. There, as here, 
knowledge is obtained by voluntary attention, by per- 
ception, conception, abstraction, and reasoning. The 
mind must be active, and ideas will be formed in or- 
derly succession, offering new occasions of praise, 
thanksgiving, love, and obedience. Eternal idleness 
and passivity would suit only the quiescence and im- 
mobility of Brahma, not the lieaven of the Christian. 
As the soul leaves this M'orld so it enters the world to 
come. Death adds nothing to one's growth in knowl- 
edge and holiness. Millions who are saved by pardon 
from a recent life of sin will enter heaven with less de- 
velopment in the true line of the perfection of our being 
than millions have already attained on earth by faith 
and obedience. The differences of progress which ob- 
tain here will also obtain there. Some with more, some 
with less, development, yet all in complete felicity, ac- 
cording to their measure, will be moving on in lines of 



Christ's Work of Restitution. 243 

symmetrical growth toward the higher and complete 
stage. But the conditions of growth in heaven will be 
far improved beyond those of our earthly state. Here 
we are liable to error, and, however innocently the 
mind may err, yet the error is and must be ahinderance. 
The holy Spirit operates only " through [or literally ?'jf'] 
the truth." In heaven will be no error, no sin, no lack 
of facilities in the attainment of knowledge or encour- 
agements to holy exercise. Yet will there be diversi- 
ties as to degree, or measure of development, of gilts, 
and possibly of spiritual appetency. Then as now, 
" one star will differ from another star in glory." 1 Cor. 
XV, 41. 

One great fact in heaven and on earth is placed be- 
fore us as the ideal of all human perfection — the j^erson 
and character of Christ. To be like him is the acme of 
our existence, and of our blessedness. " We know that 
when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall 
see him as he is." 1 John iii, 2. And to this effect is 
the Saviour's prayer: "Father, I will that they also 
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am; that 
they may behold my glory." John xvii, 24. Here we 
see Christ objectively only in written delineation, there 
we shall see him in his personal glory, with our glori- 
fied body, and there, also, our perceptions and expe- 
riences of his excellence will be unmixed with our 
earthly imperfections. Oar subjective appreciations 
here are often a truer guide than our intellectual per- 
ceptions, but there they will be truer and profounder, 
and our growth more rapid and harmonious. On earth 
and in heaven but one rule is supplied: " grow up into 
him in all things, which is the head, even Christ," until, 
in a sense more perfect than all our experiences here, 
" we all come into the unity of the faith [doctrine], and 
of the full knowledge [epi[/7ioseos~\ of the Son of God, 



244 ESCHATOLOGY. 

into a perfect man, into the measure of the stature of 
the fullness of Christ;" wliich blessed and ineffable 
" conformity to the image of his Son " is the ultimate 
" predestination " of God in respect of man. Rom. 
viii, 29. 

Section IV. — The Human Element Retained in 
THE Restituted Psychical Body. 

A few words more seem necessary in order to make 
more apparent the chief practical points suggested by 
what has already been said. We have seen the dignity 
of man — that redemption is a restoration of man to his 
original rank in the scale of being — and that this im- 
plies his reconstruction, soul and body, after the image 
of God, modeled in the person and character of Christ. 
We do not propose to enter into the speculative parts 
of the suggestions in the foregoing pages. What Ave 
have said has been chiefly exegetical, not speculative. 
We have little occasion to speculate where facts are so 
rich and overwhelming. We are not contemplating 
man's future destiny through " gates ajar," if that 
phrase supposes indistinct vision. Still, with some 
facts clearly established, it is not speculation to con- 
sider them in connection with their immediate sequences. 
A logical inference is as true as a \o^\q2X premise, or an 
established fact. 

For instance, the "new song" in heaven is a song of 
redemption. But redemj)tion supposes a Redeemer, a 
previously lost condition of the redeemed, a ransom 
price, a method and process of liberation. Each and 
every one of these points is as true as the first. The 
"new song" then will celebrate and memorialize each. 
Redemption has a history. We cannot forget the his- 
torical j^rocess and retain the result. We cannot sing 
the " new song " of redemption and forget the history 



Christ's Work of Restitutiox. 245 

of redemption or the processes by Avhicli redemption 
became a fact and a new life to us. The history of our 
personal redemption comprehends not only what Christ 
has done in making atonement, but all the way in 
which the Lord our God has led us [during our earthly 
life], to humble us, and to know what was in our heart, 
whether we would "keep his commandments or no." 
Deut. yiii, 2. Blessed is the man who has an experi- 
ence on earth which will swell his "new song" in 
heaven. But will our sins be remembered? Undoubt- 
edly, but not to distress or condemn. The fact and 
greatness of our sin and sinful condition could not be 
forgotten without lessening our sense of gratitude and 
joy for deliverance. The shame, the guilt, the pollution 
and power of sin are all taken away, the memory of 
them only is left. It is a mistake to suppose that such 
Scriptures as: "Your sins and your iniquities will I re- 
member no more ; " " Thou hast cast all my sins behind 
thy back ; " " The former shall not be remembered, nor 
come into mind," imply that no memor}^, as a mental 
conception, shall be had of sins after they have been 
pardoned. The sense of snch passages is that no 
Judicial remembrance of sin shnll be made; that 
is, God Avill not remember -hem Avith a view to 
punish them, or make us accountable for them after 
pardon. 

In the work of redemption there is first an atojiinj 
work accomplished by Christ ; secondly, a reneioiinj, 
sanctifying^ and helping agency by the Holy Ghost ; 
thirdly, an instrumental agency by the Church. Now, 
the instrumental part is as really the ordination of God 
as either of the others. But this comprehends what 
the Church does organically, and Avhat individuals do 
personally, to enlighten and ])ersnade and encourage 
men to come to Christ and be f-aved. Here is a won- 



246 ESCHATOLOGY. 

derful intermingling of human sympathies and human 
influences with the divine in the saving of souls. I am 
not speaking of the relative worth and significance of 
human instrumentality. I speak of it only as a fact, 
and as an ordination of God, w^hicli, though purely an 
instrumentality, is as really a part of the redemptive 
scheme as any other provision of grace, and one which 
will be remembered to be rewarded in the day of 
judgment. 

Will not, therefore, the remembrance of redemption 
include all the particulars of this redemptive social 
economy ? What lesson otherwise could memory teach 
us ? what emotions could it awaken ? Can we remem- 
ber a fi'iend wdthout remembering the circumstances 
and associations of that friendship ? In heaven there 
will be recognitions of friends and friendships in Christ 
which stand associated with our spiritual life and his- 
tory. All that divine wisdom has been pleased to use 
as helps to our faith becomes an integral part of the 
history of our redemption, a spiritual property of the 
immortal nature, and can no more be alienated or lost 
than could our moral and mental identity. It becomes 
part of that indestructible .wealth laid up in heaven, 
which moths cannot corrupt nor thieves steal, nor time 
nor eternity obliterate. And, then, if this were not so, 
wdiat would become of those lessons of Providence, that 
'^ discipline of the Lord," which have interpenetrated 
o.ur inmost experience and the most delicate texture 
of our lives ? Can we forget what the Lord has done 
for us ? And if we remember that, must we not also 
remember all that we have done by his providential 
and gracious aid ? We co-work with God here. We 
"will and do," because "he worketh in us to will 
and to do his good pleasure." Who will separate these 
threads of our history? They ai'e a cord which cannot 



Christ's Work of Restitutiox. 24 7 

be broken. We are made thus one with hira, Avhile 
we sing: 

" Thou all our works in us hast wrought; 

Our good is all divine ; 
The praise of every virtuous thouglit 

And righteous act is thine." 

In heaven the souls of the martyrs remembered tlieir 
earthly sufferings and history. They knew, too, that 
their brethren upon the earth were still suffering'per- 
secution, while iniquity triumphed, and they prayed for 
their brethren, and said, " How long, O Lord, holy and 
true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them 
that dwell on the earth?" Rev. vi, 10, 11. Here is 
knowledge and sympathy in the work of the suffering, 
witnessing Church. The dead in Christ are pronounced 
"blessed," "for their works do follow them." The 
great volume of redemption, which is preserved as a 
precious memorial in heaven (1 Pet. i, 4), and repro- 
duced through the mem^ories of his saints, shall be_for 
the study of saints and angels along the endless ages. 
There, too, will be explained the " mystery of God " 
(Rev. X, 1) in subjecting to sufferings his own Church, 
and the unfathomed depth of that mysterious economy 
through Avhich they struggled up into "the regenera- 
tion " and " eternal life " will be a theme of endless 
praise. Creation has no glories, no beauties, no mys- 
teries like those of redemption, and when Christ comes 
(blessed be his name ! he loill come, and " every eye 
shall see him") he shall come "to be glorified in his 
saints." How can this be but by unfolding to an as- 
tonished universe the great principles, metliods, and 
mysteries by which this grand result was attained ? 
The "books" which John saw (Rev. xx, 12) evidence 
that great facts and principles relating to the gospel 
history and moral government were now to be laid 



248 ESCHATOLOGY. 

open to the universe. The plural " books " indicates 
that they related to different departments, such as the 
book of the moral law, the book of gospel provision, 
the book of divine providence, the book containing the 
deeds of men whether good or bad. As to the right- 
eous, their faith had already penetrated these mysteries 
and received the saving gospel message; but the vindica- 
tion of the divine judgments before the universe requires 
that the " books be opened," the records of time, and of 
each man's life in all time, be viewed side by side with 
the dispensations of God to man. For these grand des- 
tinies we were created, and to the sublime pinnacle of 
this great glory and lionor we are to aspire, "looking 
for and earnestly desiring \speudontas'\ the day of 
God." 

There is a question which we shrink to propose, be- 
cause it savors of specidation. When we pass beyond 
the solid ground of revelation our mental processes are 
of very questionable utility. And yet, as we have said, 
there are processes of induction and deduction which 
are as reliable as facts or first principles. The question 
we refer to may thus be stated : How far will the hu- 
man, sympathetic, and affectional nature be restored in 
heaven ? Allusion has already been made to this, but 
something more direct and practical seems required. 
If what has been said on " species," and the immortality 
of the human species, as a particular type of being, be 
allowed, and if what has just been said of recognitions 
and historical reminiscences in heaven be true, it must 
follow that all that in our affectional nature which is 
necessary to our species and to our accountability must 
be immortal as oar species. In man's creation God 
contemplates a race (using the word in its broadest 
sense), and the race as comprehending families. 
Throughout there is the relationship of descent from 



Christ's Woek of Restitutiox. 249 

a common ancestry. Now, how has God treated these 
relations ? As mere accidents, or as fundamental to his 
plan concerning man ? 

In the decalogue, after enacting four laws protective 
of the awful prerogatives of the Godhead, the next, the 
first that relates to human life, the fifth commandment 
of the decalogue, is a guard thrown around the family 
and its relations. This law is in the moral code, the 
code of absolute ethics, the code irrevocable. The 
New Testament reiterates it. God intended the fam- 
ily, which is older, and its authority and sanctity 
higher, than either civil government or Church, to be 
for the nursery-culture of souls for immortality and 
eternal life. The results of family life, for good or 
evil, tell on the destinies of eternity more than all other 
human agencies. 

When, now, we look into the wondrous economy of 
God in nature, I mean in the natural endowments of 
the human heart, we find parental love and the ties of 
the family of a type wholly different from those of all 
other types of being whatever. Parental love is not 
merely an instinct. Instinct in the animal economy is 
a provision for the propagation and sustentation of the 
animal nature. It goes no further in defining or pro- 
viding for a higher end or relation. However sagacious 
the animal may be, the sphere of animal life, and the 
wants and ends of animal existence, bound the utmost 
province of instinct. It is, hence, that when the young 
of all animals reach the point of self-support, the ma- 
ternal affection utterly dies out, and both parent and 
offspring become oblivious to all special relation or 
affection. All local relation then becomes merged in 
the common tie of species. But how different the pa- 
rental affection in the human species. Here no lapse 
of time, no progressive stage of life, not death itself, 
17 



250 ESCHATOLOGY. 

can work any change, but all these rather itensify and 
purify it. This is a nobler endowment than instinct, 
and clearly shows that the family tie roots itself in the 
psychological and immortal nature. It was given, also? 
for higher and holier ends than the law of instinct, even 
for the mental, moral, and immortal well-being of the 
offspring. It is true that millions of human beings 
turn the whole life-current of parental affection in the 
direction of the earthly and perishable indulgence of 
the child, while parental pride and selfish vanity and. 
ambition supplant the higher motives, and defeat the 
liigher ends of parental love. It is true, also, that in 
millions more parental love is not developed to the ex- 
tent even of common brute instinct. But this only 
proves the abuse, not the moral end and scope, of this 
great quality of our nature, just as savage ignorance 
and cruelty in man proves, not a natural deprivation of 
reason and sensibility, but their abuse and non-culture. 
We cannot extend this argument, but let us turn to its 
application to the heavenly state. We do not believe 
that families will be reconstructed in heaven after the 
earthly model. We have already noticed this point. 
But so far as any light has fallen upon this subject, we 
may safely conclude that what is essential to our human 
type of being, and what belongs to or correlates with 
our religious history, will be preserved. If so, the 
meeting of a friend, a child, or parent, a loved com- 
panion, a brother or sister, in heaven, will be attended. 
Avith a feeling, a sensibility, an emotion, humanly cor- 
respondent to such a relation. These ties of nature 
will be purged of their earthiness, tlieir selfishness, and 
will be holy as first intended by the Creator, harmo- 
nious with the love of God, but they cannot be effaced 
without blotting out a class of emotions and sensibili- 
ties peculiar to our nature, or distinctive of it ; that is, 



Christ's Wokk of Restitutiox. 251 

v>^ithout altering tlie type of our being and extinguish- 
ing in the breasts of millions the dearest memories of 
their religious life on earth. " Thy brother shall rise 
again " is a markedly different form of expression from 
" There shall be a resurrection both of the just and the 
unjust." Why did the sympathizing Saviour say "thy 
brother" but that he intended to soothe the sisterly 
heart at the very place and point of its suffering ? It 
would have been less tender and significant to have 
said, " Lazarus shall rise again." But now the lan- 
guage denotes a restoration, not of a person merely, 
but in some sense of a tie, and in a sense sufficient to 
meet the yearning regret and solicitude of the bereave- 
ment. A brother — not a man merely — was lost, and 
that brother, in the j^erson of a man, should be re- 
stored. If the thought we intend be apprehended, 
with the cautions and qualifications given, it sufficeth. 
We can say no more. When I meet my mother in 
heaven she will not be a stranger, not be a human being 
merely, as distinct from an angel — she will be still my 
mother. The fact is ineffaceable, the tie essentially 
correlates. And the emotions which our meeting will 
awaken, while they Avill be in essential quality human, 
will be pure, purged from their earthiness, like the 
" changed " body ; in moral character holy, heavenly, 
and in harmony with the perfections of the heavenly 
state. Could we blot out the name of mother^ and 
with it all emotion awakened by that name and tie, we 
do not see how we could praise God for giving us such 
a blessing, and such a help to our spiritual life. Nei- 
ther can I see how I would retain the noblest and most 
divinely recognized elements of my human nature. 
Many questions may arise here, perhaps some objec- 
tions. We only ask the calm and candid thought of 
the godly and the meditative Bible-reading mind. We 



252 ESCPIATOLOGY. 

have endeavored to tread carefully, reverently. We 
don't "want to be an angel." They are loving cousins, 
and we hope to see them in due time. But we look 
for the perfection of our being as the ultimate good — 
our humanity as it shall be " at the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." 

" And when Jesus shall appear 

Soul and body 
Shall his glorious image bear." 



The Coming of Christ. 253 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE COMIXG OF CHRIST. 
The Resurreclion. 

The first act of this unfolding epoch is the resurrec- 
tion, of whicli a greater mind than ours has said: "It is 
not in itself impossible, therefore no man can absolutely 
deny ; it is upon natural and moral grounds highly 
probable, therefore all men may rationally expect it ; it 
is upon evangelical principles infallibly certain, there- 
fore all Christians must firmly believe it."* 

As in human judicial trials the first step is to summon 
the accused to appear in court, so the Judge of all calls 
"the living and the dead " to appear. Tliis involves a 
general resurrection of the dead. Thus, in awful sub- 
limity, John describes: 

"And I saw a great white tlirone, and him that sat 
on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled 
away; and there was found no place for them. And I 
saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and 
the books were opened: and another book was opened, 
which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out 
of those things which were written in the books, ac- 
cording to their works. And the sea gave up the dead 
which were in it; and death and Hades delivered up the 
dead which were in them : and they were judged, 
every man according to their works. And death and 
Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the sec- 
ond death. And whosoever was not found written in 
* Pearson on the Creed, p. 555. 



254 



ESCHATOLOGY. 



the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 
XX, 11-15. 

That this is parallel to, and supplementary of, the 
Saviour's own words, already recorded. Matt, xxv, 
31-46, is seen by a brief synoptic view, thus: 



Matthew xxv. 

Yer. 31. "When the Son of 
man shall come in liis glory, and 
all tlie holy angels with hira, then 
shall be sit upon the throne of his 
glory." 

Yer. 32. " And before him shall 
be gathered all nations." 

Yer. 32. "And he shall sepa- 
rate them one from another, as a 
shepherd divideth the sheep from 
the goats." 

Yers. 34, 35, 41, 42. "Then 
shall the king say unto them on 
his right hand, Come, ye blessed 
of ray Father ... for I was hun- 
gry and ye gave me meat, I was 
thirsty and ye gave me drink, a 
stranger and ye took me in," etc. 
. . ■. " Then shall he say also to 
them on his left hand, Depart 
from me . . . for I was a hungered 
and ye gave me no meat, thirsty 
and ye gave me no drink," etc. 

Yer. 46. " And these shall go 
away into everlasting punishment, 
but the risrhteous into life eternal." 



Revelation xx. 
Yer. 11. "And I saw a great 
white throne and he that sat on 
it. 



Yer. 12. "And I saw the dead, 
small and great, stand before 
God." 

Yer. 12. "And the dead were 
judged out of the things written 
in the books." 

Yer. 13. " And they were 
judged every man according to 
their works." 



Yer. 15. " And whosoever was 
not found written in the book of 
life was cast into the lake of fire." 



But in what form shall the newly raised bodies ap- 
pear? Shall they appear as disembodied spirits or as 
recognizable organic bodies? Reason and Scripture 
must answer — the latter. They must appear in the 
judgment in their recognizable form as human beings. 



The Coming of Christ. 255 

They must be judged in the same personality in which 
they have acted in the probationary state; that is, in 
their visible, bodily organism. We have no conception 
of a perfect human person vrilhout a human form and 
physical structure. The Creator only can know, in the 
reconstruction of the race, what change of the organic 
system is necessarj^, and that will be made, in order to 
fit it^ for the kindred companionship of the spirit, or 
soul, and what part to retain in order to preserve and 
perpetuate the identity of the race. The apostle Peter 
says of the Gospel as having been preached to them that 
are now dead, that it was in order " that they miglit be 
judged accordbtg to men in the flesh'''' (1 Pet. iv, 6); 
tliat is, according to " living men," or " men possessed 
of a fleshly, or material, organization." They must be 
judged and rewarded in the same personality as when 
tlioy passed their probation. For " we must all appear 
before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may 
receive the things done in Ids hody, according to that he 
hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. v, 10. 
The resurrection of the material, organic body, there- 
fore, is a necessary preliminary of a just judgment. It 
is no disparagement to the race or to the personalit}^ of 
the redeemed that they are to be clothed in a material 
body. Matter, per se, is as pure in the eyes of the 
Creator as spirit, and was so treated in the creation, and, 
so far as we kow, it is capable of being wrought into a 
reflective medium of honor, dignity, and glory, inferior 
only to spirit itself, to which it holds, in the human 
sphere, a correlative existence. We shall return to this 
subject hereafter. 

The verb dvLorTjiu, anistemi, the common verb to ex- 
press a rising from the dead, is derived from ava, up, 
and lareiu, to rise — to rise up ; and when applied to a 
resurrection it mean to rise from the dead. The noun 



256 ESCHATOLOGY. 

avdaraacg is of tlie same derivation, and is translated 
resitrrectlon. When applied to the resurrection it al- 
ways signifies the return of life to a dead body, and the 
consequent rising itp, or standing up^ of a dead body, a 
reviviscence of that Avhich was dead, a standing up of 
the body which had fallen. In proving a resurrection, 
therefore, the fact of a real death must first be proved. 
There can be no resurrection where there has been no 
antecedent death. The apostles were always careful to 
establish the real death of the Saviour before they as- 
serted a true resurrection. 

Take, for example, the passage 1 Cor. xv, 1-20. The 
apostle says : '' I delivered unto you first of all that 
which I also received how that Christ died for our sins 
according to the Scriptures; and that he was huried^ and 
that he rose again the third day according to the Script- 
ures. . . . Now if Christ be preached that he rose from 
the dead, how say some among you that there is no 
resurrection of the dead?" Here, then, is the mode of 
procedure: He died, he was buried, he rose again. The 
same body that died, and that was buried, the same rose 
from the dead. 

But some denied a resurrection, and the argument of 
the apostle proceeds against them. He says: " If there 
be no resurrection of the dead, then is not Christ risen." 
Yer. 13. The resurrection of Christ is the proof and 
guarantee of the resurrection of the saints. To deny 
the latter is to overthrow the former. And, further- 
more, " If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching 
vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are 
found false witnesses of God; because we have testified 
of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not 
up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise 
not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not 
raised, your faith is vain ; ye are yet in your sins. Then 



The Coming of Christ. 257 

they also whicli are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." 
Vers. 13-18. Thus the whole system of salvation in 
Christ is swept away, and we are left in the darkness of 
paganism, and the witnesses of Jesus are convicted of 
false swearing, and our hope in Christ is a delusion, " if 
so be that the dead rise not." Such is the plain and 
most unmistakable testimony of the holy apostle. 

" But " — the apostle resumes the positive tone of the 
argument — "now is Christ risen from the dead, and 
become the first-fruits of them that slept." Yer. 20. 
As the " first-fruits," under the Mosaic law, were of the 
most excellent quality of their kind, and were a pledge 
of the fullness of the harvest, so the resurrection of Je- 
sus stood related to the resurrection of his saints as the 
most precious of its kind, and as a guarantee of the full 
ingathering of his followers, by the resurrection, in its 
time. The order stands: " Christ the first-fruits; after- 
ward they that are Christ's at his coming." 

But the inquirer asks, "How are the dead raised up, 
and with what body do they come?" Yer. 35. The 
apostle chides the irreverent doubter, but illustrates all 
that can be known on the point by reference to the an- 
alogous, but equally mysterious, facts in vegetable ger- 
mination. The seed is sown, the lobe of the seed dies, 
or rots, and affords a delicate nourishment and stimula- 
tion to the vital part, nnd it germinates. The seed dies, 
then it quickens. The seed sown is embryonic of the 
identical seed that is harvested, is of the same species ; 
the part which decays goes into the part which " quick- 
ens " for nutriment. But now the great point to be 
observed is that " God giveth it a body as it hath 
pleased him, mid to every seed its oion body.^'' Yer. 38. 
All the changes in germination — growth and maturity — 
do not at all affect the specific identity, or identity of 
species, in the seed. Each seed retains " his own 



258 ESCHATOLOGT. 

body " without confusion or change. Tt is so in vege- 
table nature, it is so in animal nature, it is so with the 
human nature. Death of individuals has no power to 
change the species. The " first-fruits " are the same in 
kind and quality as the full harvest, for God giveth to 
every seed " its ovni body.'''' 

In attempting to define and describe the human per- 
son after the resurrection the apostle sets it forth anti- 
thetically in four cardinal particulars. He says (vers. 
42-44), "It is sown in corruption ; it is raised in incor- 
ruption." The w^ord corruption {(pOogd) must, of neces- 
sity, be taken figuratively. The fundamental idea 
s:ems to be destruction or destructibility. It thus stands 
opposed to immortality, or perpetuated life, having in 
itself the elements of decay and death. Incorrupt io?i 
(acpdapaid) is the exact opposite of corruption, and sup- 
poses there is in the resurrected body no element of 
decay or change, nothing to antagonize the immortality 
of the body. 

Again, the human body " is sown in dishonor [drijila], 
it is raised in glory [(5d^a]." It is not easy to define the 
force of these words. They apply to the human body 
in its opposite conditions before and after the resur- 
rection, and we have no examples by which we could 
form comparisons. As a simple translation our English 
Bible gives a good lexical sense, but one feels it is not 
sufiicient. Language only fails us. John says of the 
fashion of the resurrection body: "It doth not yet ap- 
pear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall 
a])pear we shall be like him, for ice shall see him as he 
is.''^ 1 John iii, 2. No doubt this can be said of the 
resurrection body, but it simply afiirms that there is 
nothing like it in material or visible nature, " It doth 
not yet appear," etc. Probably the evangelists give 
the best description in the Saviour's transfiguration on 



The Coming of Christ. 259 

the mount. Mattliew says (xvii, 2), " Christ was 
transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the 
sun, and his raiment was white as the liglit." Mark 
says, " He was transfigured before them, and liis rai- 
ment became shining, exceeding white as snow ; so as 
no fuller on earth could white them." Luke says (i.v, 
29-31), "The fashion of his countenance was altered, 
and his raiment was white and glistering; and there 
talked with him two men, Moses and Elias, who ap- 
peared in glory," etc. In the passage before us the 
words dlsho)ior and glory are antithetic. Dishonor 
gives the idea of death, putrefaction, that which is re- 
pulsive, vile. Such is death, the monumental testimony 
of the death penalty. Gen. iii, 19. But glory gives the 
idea of honor , praise, purity , felicity . All that is good 
and great and pure and immortal belongs to that one 
word — glory. Jesus says of the saints in the resurrec- 
tion: "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun 
in the kingdom of their Father." Matt, xiii, 43. And 
Daniel says: "Many of them that sleep in the dust of 
the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they 
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
ment ; and they that turn many to righteousness as the 
stars for ever and ever." Dan. ix, 2, 3. These descrip- 
tions and illustrations convey to the righteous the ideas 
of honor, felicity, and perfection above all power of 
language to define or express. Similarly the apostle 
elsewhere speaks of the resurrection as "mortality 
swallowed up of life." 2 Cor. v, 4. 

To resume our regular citations, the apostle says of 
the human body, " It is sown in weakness, it is raised 
in pjower."''' 1 Cor. xv, 43. Power is that which over- 
comes resistance, and is measured by its results. The 
human body, in sufferings and death, is the emblem of 



26a ESCHATOLOGY. 

utter weakness ; in its resurrected state it is the sym- 
bol of power. Fatigue now soon exhausts the strength, 
but in its glorified state it knows no fatigue, no infirra- 
it}^ The body will be able to maintain, without rest, 
immortal activity of the p?ieu7na, or spirit. 

Again the apostle says, " It is sown a natural body ; 
it is raised a spiritual body." Ver. 44. The best sus- 
tained rendering is, " It is sown an animal body, it is 
raised a spiritual body. The word ipv^tfcog, psukikos, 
translated natural in our common version, occurs only 
three times besides in this connection, and always re- 
fers to the lower, or animal, nature; thus, Jas. iii, 15: 
*' But is earthly, sensual, devilish;" Jude xix, "These 
be they that separate themselves, sensual, having not 
the spirit ;" 1 Cor. ii, 14, "But the natural \w2,\i receiv- 
eth not the things of the Spirit of God." Etymologic- 
ally the word rendered natural signifies hreath, and a 
natural body would mean a breathing body, or animal 
body, as above. There is, then, a real difference be- 
tween the animal organization, with its predicates of 
sensation, desires, appetites, passions, and affections, 
and the a(i)\ha TTvevfjLariK.ov, spiritucd body, with its pow- 
ers of reason and conscience and free will. But these 
different powers are united in their physical organism, 
one personality, and the resurrection purges that which 
is in inadaptation to the perfect and immortal state, and 
out of harmony with " the glory that is to be revealed 
in us." liom. viii, 18. "It is soicn an animcd^^ body, 
formed for the purposes of animal life in this present 
world; but it is raised a spiritual body, formed to a 
noble superiority to the mean gratifications of this im- 
perfect state, and fitted to be the instrument of the soul 
in the most exalted services of the spiritual and divine 
life. " For it is certain that as there is o.n animcd body 
with which we are now by daily, and frequently by un- 



The Coming of Christ. 261 



happy, experience acquainted, so there is also a 
hochj. God can exalt and refine matter to a degree of 
purity and excellence unknown; and there are many 
bodies now existing so pure and active as that, in com- 
parison, they may be called spirits." * 

It must be remembered that the apostle is here an- 
swering the questions, " How are the dead raised up ? 
and with what bod}^ do they come ? " 1 Cor. xv, 35. 
From chapter xv, 46, to verse 49 he runs an antithetic 
parallel between " the first man Adam " and the " last 
Adam," Christ; from which he concludes and declares 
that w^e are not, in the resurrection, to bear the image 
of Adam, *' the earthy," but the image of Christ, ** the 
heavenly;" that is, Christ, not Adam, is the model of 
our resurrection body. The language is positive and 
causal: ^'-Inasmuch as [as certain as, KaOcbc;'] we have 
borne the image of the earthy [so certain is it that] we 
shall also bear the image of the heavenl}^" Yer. 49. 

And as to the body in which the righteous shall ap- 
pear he further says, " Now this I say, brethren, that 
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God : 
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." Ver. 50. 
This, again, is a negative statement, declaring what the 
resurrection body cannot be. But it is not the less im- 
portant. The language must be taken literally. " Flesh 
and blood " in the animal kingdom must be understood 
to comprehend the entire economy of nutrition, or those 
delicate processes by which decayed particles are re- 
moved, wastes supplied, and life perpetuated. This, 
while it prolonged a temporary life, would involve in- 
evitable decay and final dissolution. Not knowing that 
the resurrection inhibits all these accidents of being, the 
Sadducees and heathen did not deem the resurrection a 
blessing, if, indeed, it were possible. 

* Doddridsre, Comraentarv, in loco. 



262 ESCHATOLOGY. 

The apostle admits and asserts a literal resurrection, 
though unable to define it i^sychologically, or by any 
laws of scientific classification. He asserts the un- 
changed identity of the race in all these great changes. 
He says (1 Cor. xv, 51, 52), *' Behold, I show you a 
mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be 
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at 
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the 
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be 
changed." If these words do not prove a literal resur- 
rection of the human body into a changed state, neces- 
sary to a higher degree of perfection, but not in any 
respect affecting man's identity, it is in vain to attempt 
interpretation of language as a ground of faith, or any 
other ground but that of bootless speculation. (See 
more on this subject in next chapter.) 

The Saviour publicly declares himself to be him that 
shall raise the dead in the last day. He says, '' The 
hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves 
shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that 
have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they 
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damna- 
tion." John V, 28, 29. In this same connection Christ 
had spoken of the spiritually dead. He says (ver. 25), 
" The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall 
hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear 
shall live." This is a declaration of what was being 
then already done. But of the resurrection proper he 
says, "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in 
tlieir graves shall hear his voice, and shall come for th^^ 
etc. The text needs no comment. 

The apostle says (Phil, iii, 20, 21), " For our conver- 
sation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the 
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our 
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glori- 



The Comixg of Ciikist. 263 

ous body." " Vile body " here is, literally, the body of 
our humiliation. The language is descriptive of the 
human body in its present low estate, beset with evils 
and suffering; but which Christ Avill change, and make 
it " like unto his glorious body." The vile body and 
the glorified body were one and the same body, only in 
its different wondrous conditions. 

It has been advanced by some, and with some ap- 
parent success, that there is no physical, or bodily, 
resurrection, but that the Avords which have been 
supposed to teach a literal coming of Christ are to be 
understood in a spii-itual sense, as Christ says, " Lo, I 
am witli you alwa}^," etc., is to be taken in a spiritual 
sense, of a spiritual presence of Christ. 

Especially has the word ixagovdia, parousia — trans- 
lated presence — been endowed with a technical force 
and precision. Now, we readily concede that the ety- 
mology of the word bears that sense ; but every tyro 
in language knows that every word in every language 
bears more significations than one, and every shade of 
distinction is, in so far, a departure from the etymo- 
logical root; and it is the oftice of the interpreter to 
determine which is the true signification in any given 
place. The word now before us occurs in the New 
Testament twenty-four times. Only twice is it vcn- 
diQvedi 2^resence in our English Bible; namely, in 2 Cor. 
X, 10; Phil, ii, 12. In all other places of its occurrence 
— twenty-two in number — it is translated coming ; and 
thirteen out of this number relate specifically to the 
coming, or second advent, of Christ; besides four from 
the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, which relate 
partly to the downfall of Jerusalem, and partly to the 
final judgment. 

It is, therefore, clearly seen that the word parousia 
cannot be relied upon as evidence in support of the 



264 ~^ ESCHATOLOGY. 

theory that the word signifies spiritual presence. It 
will soon be seen, also, that other words from other 
roots and of definite significations, being used inter- 
changeably with parousia, are of equal and identical 
import. Let us proceed, then, to examine and determine 
the import of some words bearing on the subject of the 
bodily resurrection. 

1 John ii, 28, "That when he shall appear [(pavegotx) 
phaneroo] we may have confidence and not be ashamed 
before him at his coming [parousici].'''' Here parousia 
is interchanged with appear, both signifying visible 
onanifestation. In chapter iii, 2, we have, "It doth not 
yet appear Yphaneroo] what we shall be; but we know 
that when he shall appear [phcmeroo] we shall be like 
him." 

Col. iii, 4, " When Christ, who is our life, shall ap- 
pear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." 

Luke xix, 11, " They thought that the kingdom should 
immediately appear.'''' 

1 Pet. V, 4, " When the chief Shepherd shall appear ye 
shall receive a crown of glory that f adeth not away." 

1 Tim. vi, 14, " Keep this commandment without 
spot, unrebukable, unto [until] the appearing of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 

1 Pet. i, 7, " That the trial of your faith . . . might 
be found unto praise and honor and glory at the ap- 
pearing of Jesus Christ." 

It will be borne in mind that our object is simply to 
set forth, as holy Scripture teaches, the fact of the res- 
urrection of the human body in its changed, holy, and 
recognizable form, as the first great act of Christ in his 
second advent, attended with those external circum- 
stances which appertain to an event so public, so august, 
and so glorious. Thus, on the bodily appearing of 
Christ at his coming: 



The Comixg of Christ. ^ 265 

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose ao-ain. 



even so them also wliich sleep in Jesus will God bring 
with him. For this we say unto you by the word of 
the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the 
coming \j)aro%tsi(ji\ of the Lord shall not prevent \()0 
before] them thnt are asleep ; for the Lord himself shall 
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of 
the archangel and with the trump of God : and the dead 
in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and 
remain shall be caught up together with them in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we 
ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. iv, 14-17. 

And again: " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed [apok- 
alupsei\ from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming 
fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and 
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : 
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of 
his power; when he shall come [erchomai] to be glorified 
in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe. 
. . . in that day." 2 Thess. i, 7-10. 

These last two passages are from one and the same in- 
spired apostle, written to the same church, on the same 
subject, namely, "concerning the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. ii, 1. Observe in 1 Thess. 
iv, 15, the word coming is, in the original, parousia^ 
but in 2 Thess. i, 10, on the same subject, the verb come 
is erchomai, and in verse 7 a ^^ revelation \apohalupsis] 
of Jesus Christ," showing, as in numerous other places, 
that the words are used interchangeably. Nothing, 
therefore, is gained in the argument against the second 
coming by asserting that parousia should be always 
translated presence, which is simply impossible, as- 
suming also the presence to be spiritual and invisible. 
For, allowing that, etymologically, we arrive at the 
18 



266 ESCHATOLOGY. 

radical signification of presence; yet it is a presence at- 
tained by a previous coming. Besides, it is familiarly 
known that in determining the signification of any given 
word we are always governed by the law of usage, 
which is against the objection here. The apostle James 
settles it at once. He says: "Be patient, therefore, 
brethren, unto [until] the coming \_parousici\ of the 
Lord," etc. The adverbial particle eo)^, until, marks 
the terminus or end of patient waiting for Christ. 
lie is not present, but expected, and the apostle exhorts 
to patience. " Behold the husbandman waiteth for the 
precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience. . . . 
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming 
[j^arouslci] of the Lord draweth nigh." Jas. v, 7. 
Can we wait for that which is present? The apostle 
exhorts to " long patience " in waiting for the " coming 
of the Lord." Does this comport with the doctrine 
that there is no coming of Christ other than his spiritual 
presence in his Church? 

So in 1 Cor. i, 7, " Waiting for the coming [cipoJca- 
lujosis] of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. iv, 13, "But 
rejoice . . . that when his glory shall be revert^ec? [ci'jjoA:- 
ahqjsei^ ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 

This revelation of Christ cannot denote a spiritual 
presence merely, but stands contradistinguished from 
it by its immediate connection Avith the ^^ coming of 
our Lord Jesus Christ." A spiritual jwesence, and a 
^'^ waiting for the coming^'' do not coincide as equals. 
It is absurd to say we are waiting for a person who is 
already present, and had been for ages. The spiritual 
presence of Christ in his Church is perpetual. The 
language of the promise is, "Lo, I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the worhl," or age. Matt. 
xxviii, 20. But of the second coming of Christ it is 
said : " For vet a little while and he that shall come 



The Coming of Christ. 267 

icill come, and will not tarry." And again, " Be patient, 
therefore, brethren, unto the coming [pa7'ousis\ of the 
Lord. . . . Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: 
for the coming [paroiisici] of the Lord draweth nigh." 
Ileb. X, 37; Jas. v, 7, 8, 

Another word is used to signify the visibility of 
Christ's person as distinguished from his spiritual pres- 
ence. The word phaneroo is commonly translated «^> 
pea?', to shoio, to make manifest. Thus, as applied to 
the physical person of Christ, Mark xvi, 12, 14: "After 
that he [Christ] appeared \^phaneToo'\ in another form 
unto two of them," etc. "Afterward he app)eared 
unto the eleven." John i, 31, "That he [Christ] should 
be made manifest unto Israel, therefore am I come." 
John xxi, 1, "Jesus shoioed himself again." Ver. 14. 
" The third time that Jesus shov^ed himself." See also 
Mark xvi, 12, 14. AYe quote these passages to show 
that the word in question denotes a recognizable identi- 
fication of Christ's person, or human form. Li this sense 
it is also used to denote his personal, visible appearing, 
at his second coming from heaven. 

Another word is employed in various places to set 
forth the visible, bodily coming of our Lord. The root 
idea of epiplia7iei is to lighten, illuminate, and hence 
substantively an appearing. Thus 1 Tim. vi, 14: "Keep 
this commandment without spot until the appjearing of 
our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Tim. iv, 1, "The Lord Jesus 
Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his 
appearing, and his kingdom. Yerse 8, "And not unto 
me only, but unto all them that love his appearing!''' 
Titus ii, 13, "The glorious appearing of the great God 
and our Saviour Jesus Christ." The same word is ajD- 
plied to the Saviour's first advent, to open the gospel 
dispensation, which we know to have been personally in 
the flesh. TIjus, speaking of the divine "purpose and 



268 ESCHATOLOGY. 

grace " in Christ the apcstle says: " It is now made mani- 
fest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ."' 
2 Tim. i, 10. The verb phaneroo^ from the same root, 
gives a concurrent testimony. Thus, " God was mani- 
fest in the flesh." 1 Tim. iii, 16. " But now, in the end of 
the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the 
sacrifice of himself." Heb. ix, 26. " He was ma^i/es^e(:? 
to take away our sins." 1 John iii, 5. "For this j)ur- 
pose the Son of God was manifested to take away our 
sins." Ver. 8. " But was manifest in these last times 
for you." 1 Pet. i, 20. We quote these last passages 
to show that the same word as applied to the coming 
of Christ, whether in his first or second coming, clearly 
designates him as in his visible, human personality. 



Christ's Second Coming. 269 



CHAPTER XIX. 

CHRIST'S SECOXD COMING. 
The Judgment Day. 

■ The resurrection is past. We come now to the second 
step, or stage, of the divine unfolding of Christ's com- 
ing in regal glory for judgment, no dates have inter- 
fered since " the battle of Gog and Magog " and the 
termination of the millennial period. Twice, and only 
twice, do the sacred Scriptures authorize us to expect 
the Saviour to visit our earth in bodily presence. Each 
advent has its specific object, and both, from the nature 
of the case, must be of fundamental import — the first to 
complete the sacrificial and atoning work, and the other 
the general and final judgment. 

The Saviour distinguishes the two, and the authority 
of his teaching will be best given by the following 
synoptic view. Thus: 

- CHEIST OFFERING SALVATION. CHRIST ADMINISTERIXG JUDGMENT. 

" For God sent not liis Son " The Father hath given him 

into the world to condemn the [the Son] authority to execute 

world; but that the world through judgment also, because he is the 

him might be saved." John iii, 17, Son of man."' John v, 27. 

"If any man hear my words, "The Father judgeth no man, 

and believe not, I judge him not: but hath committed all judgment 

for I came not to judge the world, unto the Son ; that all men should 

but to save the world." John honor the Son, even as they honor 

xii, 47. the Father." John v, 22, 23. 

" For the Son of man is not " And hath given him [the 

come to destroy men's lives, but Son] authority to execute judg- 

to save them." John ix, 56. ment also, because he is the Son 

of man." John v, 27. 



270 \ ; ESCHATOLOGY. 

Here, then, is the difference, clearly stated, between 
his " coming to judge the world " and his " coming to 
save the world." Salvation and judgment — words of 
awful, and yet glorious, import! And in coming to 
save the world, Jesus fully supposes and implies there 
is to be, in its time, a personal coming to judge the 
world ; but it was not yet. 

Thirty years after the death of all the other apostles 
John lifts the trumpet warning to the nations, which 
has echoed along down the ages: "Behold, he cometh 
[erchomai] with clouds; and every eye shall see him, 
and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of 
the earth shall wail because of him. Even so. Amen." 
Rev. i, 7. This prediction has never yet been fulfilled. 
But it will be in its time, even to the " jot and tittle." 
And as if to authenticate the solemn utterance, Christ 
immediately adds : " I am Alpha and Omega, the be- 
ginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and 
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." Ver. 8. 
This is Christ's guaranty of fulfillment. 

The description of the opening scene of the Saviour's 
regal character surpasses the power of language to de- 
scribe. At the threshold of the divine unfolding we 
pause. Language and imagery can go no farther; 
words of destiny can strike no deeper into the human 
consciousness; yet a glimmering light is held out. 
Prophecy touches the key-note : '' The decree is pub- 
lished concerning me. Jehovah said unto me, Thou art 
my Son; this day have I begotten thee." Psa. ii, 7. 
During his first advent he had declared it as far as was 
consistent with the distinctive objects and relations of 
that coming in the flesh ; but though he had restrained 
the disclosure of the fullness of his personality and pre- 
rogatives during his earthly abode, he had not withheld 
the glimmering dawn of that higher doctrine— the an- 



Christ's Second Coming. 271 

ticipation of his investiture with " all power in heaven 
and in earth." Matt, xxviii, 18. The good tidings of 
salvation admitted a beam of light upon the Saviour's 
regal authority. Still, it Avas only after his resurrection 
and ascension that the fullness of his kingly office was 
apprehended and openly tausfht. Then the disciples 
clearly saw the import of the saying, that " the Father 
loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his 
hand." John iii, 35. 

The apostolic age was radiant with the doctrine and 
praises of king Messiah. He received the investment 
at the date of the plan of salvation by the determinate 
counsels of the Godhead. Then, and thenceforth, the 
moral government devolved upon his shoulders. Then, 
and thenceforth, moral government became to our race 
a mediatorial government, being administered by a 
Mediator, through whom atonement was made and 
sins might be forgiven. Hence he became " both Lord 
and Christ," dispensing grace and salvation to those 
who accept the conditions of pardon, or " ruling with 
a rod of iron " those who spurn and reject the offered 
grace. 

Forgiveness is a legal term, and involves a changed 
relation to law ; a change from condemnation to justi- 
fication. The prerogative of the pardoning power, 
therefore, could vest only in the supreme head of gov- 
ernment, and the supreme head of moral government 
to THE Son of God. It was proper, therefore, that 
Christ should show to the apostles and the people that 
he was endowed with sovereign power, " power on the 
earth to forgive sins." Matt, ix, 6. His word and 
doctrine, also^ are of primary obligation, in their rela- 
tion to moral government, having the force of law, for 
Jesus admonishes his enemies that the word that he 
has spoken " the same shall judge them in the last day." 



272 ESCHATOLOGY. 

John xii, 48. Here, then, are the chief elements of 
government vested in Jesus; namely, that his word is 
fundamental law, and that he has the sovereign right 
to forgive sin; the one legislative, and the other the 
chief judicial function in any government — the power 
to pardon sin. 

We must premise, before entering upon our general 
argument, that an attempt has been long made, and is 
now being made, to set aside the doctrine of the future 
visible, public coming of Christ, and with it the final 
literal judgment-day, and resolve all those Scriptures 
which have a bearing on the subject into a " spiritual 
presence " of Christ in his Church only. As this sub- 
verts the whole foundation of the orthodox Christian 
faith we have given it attention as it has appeared in 
the line of our investigation. 

Among the last words of our Lord are many pro- 
phetic announcements of his coming again, and various 
clear and unequivocal parables to the same effect. 
Among the parables of this class are those of the wise 
and foolish virgins, and the unprofitable servant. Matt. 
XXV, 1-30. But passing by these at present we call at- 
tention first to the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. 
It is evident from the language of the chapter that the 
" second coming " of Christ falls within the scope of 
this chapter. We shall not attempt an ex^Dlanation at 
large of this wonderful prediction, but shall give de- 
tails only so far as required by our argument. Two 
points are fundamental : (1.) That the second coming of 
Christ, in his human, visible, glorified body, is embraced 
in the scope of the Saviour's discourse ; (2.) that his 
coming, or advent, is to be attended with external, 
visible signs. 

Thus (vers. 1-3), " And Jesus went out, and departed 
from the temple: and his disciples came to him for 



Christ's Second Coming. 273 

to show him tlie buihlings of the temple. And Jesus 
said unto them, See ye not all these things ? Yerily I 
say unto you, There shall not he left here one stone 
upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as 
he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came 
unto him privately, saying. Tell us w^hen shall these 
things be ? and what shall be the sign of thy coming^ 
and of the end of the v^orldf " 

That the destruction of Jerusalem, the downfall of 
the Jewish polity, and the abrogation of the Hebrew 
ritual and sacrificial worship are included in the Sav- 
iour's plan and purpose of discourse v/ill not be ques- 
tioned. But what of his second coming? Does he 
include that as well ? The language of the disciples in 
their request of the Saviour must determine the ob- 
jective sphere and limit of his reply. The disciples 
ask, " Tell us, when shall these things be ? and what 
shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the 
world ? " The notation of thne — " When shall these 
things be ? " the Saviour answers only by the succes- 
sion and import of symbolic signs and events, wdiich do 
not fall within our purpose to consider. So also the 
words, '•'■ these things'''' (vers. 2 and 3), simply apply to 
the overthrow of the Jewish temple with its peculiar 
Mosaic forms, and hence fall outside of the limits of 
our argument. But the language " thy coining^'' and 
"^//e end of the world,'''' directly affects our argument, 
and deserves our strictest attention. 

Tlie word parousia \ixdgovai(i\, translated " coming^'' 
has been by many selected as being of special signifi- 
cance — we might say of technical significance — to de- 
note the second coming of Christ. But other terms are 
used in different places, as we shall see. The word is 
derived from i^areimi, which is compounded of para, 
at, and eimi, to be ; literally, to he at or in a place, or 



274 ESCHATOLOGY. 

to he with or near any person. As a substantive it 
means ^:)?-e5e?ice, a coming, cm advent. 

From these radical significations it lias been held that 
in all places where the word parousia occurs, and is 
applied to Christ, the signification oi presence^ not that 
of coming^ sliould be given, and, further, it is assumed 
that in all such places the word should denote the spir- 
itual presence of Christ in his Church. This, it will be 
seen, completely sets aside, so far as the word in ques- 
tion is concerned, the visible, bodily coming of Christ. 
Now, we heartily believe in the abiding spiritual pres- 
ence of Christ with his Church throughout all time 
embraced in the gospel age. We also as heartily be- 
lieve in the kingly rule and authority of the Son of 
God, and that there are under the moral government 
thus administered manifestations, or tokens, of his 
kingly, spiritual presence and rule. But we go fur- 
ther, and hold that the word parousia denotes a visible, 
literal, coming of Christ; a visible coming as distin- 
guished from simply a spiritual presence, a visible com- 
ing, once for all, in the end of the world, or " age." 
The reasons for believing that the twenty-fourth chap- 
ter of Matthew teaches this doctrine may be briefly 
given : 

1. The connection and scope of the disciples' ques- 
tion and the pith and pertinence of our Lord's reply in 
Matt, xxiv, 1-3 require the sense we have given. The 
disciples ask, " What shall be the sign of thy coming 
\^paroiisia\, and of the completion of the age \cLioi%\ or 
dispensation f " Now, the spiritual presence of Christ 
in his Church was not the point in question. This was 
a doctrine wholly in advance of the " «^6," the com- 
prehension of the apostles. But his coming in his 
kingdom was exactly pertinent to their inquiry. Sub- 
stitute presence for corning, and the difference will 



. Christ's Second Coming. 275 

appear thus: "What shall be the sign of thy ^nrltual 
presence in the Church, and of the end of the world ? " 
Can this be accepted as the true statement of the 
case ? 

2. And, then, the answer of our Lord to such a ques- 
tion would appear inexplicably absurd and self-contra- 
dictory. It would make the spiritual presence of Christ, 
Avhich is held to be abiding and perpetual, to appear 
suddenly, after an absence, and the disciples, in the 
interim, are to watch and wait for it. Thus, " For as 
the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even 
unto the west; so shall also the coming [^Ktroiisia] of 
the Son of man be." Ver. 27. "But as the days of 
Noah w^ere, so shall also the coming \_parousia] of the 
Son of man be. For as in the days that were before 
the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying 
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered 
into the ark, and knew not untill the flood came 
and took them all aw^ay; so shall also the coming 
\_parousid] of the Son of man be." Vers. 37-39. If, 
then, we make p>arousia to signify simply the spirit- 
ual abiding of Christ in his Church, how can it be 
said to denote the coining of Christ as suddenly " as 
the lightning which shines from one part of heaven 
even nnto the other?" 

3. It is furthermore important to observe that in this 
same connection, the word erchomai — indisputably the 
word for coming — is used interchangeably with pcirou- 
sia, making their significations, by the sovereign law of 
usage, equal. This will appear if w^e place the words in 
juxtaposition thus: 

" They shall see the Son of man " What shall he the sign of thy 
coming [trcliomai] in the clouds coming''^ [pa?'ozi5/a]? Yer. 3. 
of heaven with power and great 
glory." Ver. 30. 



276 



ESCHATOLOGY. 



"For in sucli an hour as ye 
think not the Son of man cometW^ 
[erchomai]. Yer. 44. 

" Blessed is that servant whom 
his Lord, when he cometh [erch- 
omai]^ shall find so doing." Yer. 
46. 

" Mj lord delayeth his coming^'' 
\erchomaf\y Yer. 48. 



" So shall also the coming \_2)a 
rousia] of the Son of man be.' 
Yer. 27. 

" So shall also the coming [pa^ 
rousia] of the Son of man be.' 
Yer. 37. 

''So sliall also the coming [2:>a 
rousia] of the Son of man be.' 
Yer. 39. 



We cite these passages as occurring in the same scope 
and connection, and they clearly show that parousicij 
one of the hinge words in proof of the coming of the 
Lord in his glorified human body, and erchomai, which 
is the common word for coming — that is, it embraces 
the ideas of departure and arrival — are used inter- 
changeably, as being of synonymous import, signifying 
a literal and visible coming. It must be kept in mind 
that our argument stands upon tlie general scope and 
limitation of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, as 
given in the request of the apostles and the pertinence 
of our Lord's answer as to *' What shall be the sign of 
his coming, and of the end of the age or world f " And 
we say the language of our Saviour is such as enjoins 
upon us the doctrine of a personal, public coming and ap- 
])earance, attended with visible and external demonstra- 
tions. Of the tvv^enty-four times of the occurrence of 
parousia in the New Testament, the translators of the 
English Bible have rendered it by coming, except in 
two places; namely, 2 Cor. x, 10, and Phil, ii, 12. 



The Coming of Christ. 277 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE COMTKG OF CHRIST.— Continued. 

Day of Judgment. 

The language of Christ recorded in Matt, xxv, 31-46, 
etc., is very specific: " Wlien the Son of man shall come 
in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall 
he sit ujion the throne of his glory: and before him 
shall be gathered all nations : and he shall separate 
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
from the goats," etc. Consider here, " The Son of man 
shall come " (erchomai). The mention of his coming 
assumes that the fact and doctrine of his appearing 
were already familiarly understood and conceded, and 
so he proceeds at once to the great resultant. He says 
he will " come in his glory " — in his glorified, kingly 
dignity, different from his first advent, when he assumed 
our flesh. "And the holy angels with him" — the 
highest conceptions of regal grandeur, power, and au- 
thority. Then •' shall he sit upon the throne of his 
glory," an act preparatory for judicial judgment, which 
immediately follows: " and before him shall be gathered 
all nations, and he shall separate them one from an- 
other," etc. This is not a judgment of nations as such, 
but of all men individually of whatsoever nationality. 
The whole connection shows that it is a judgment of 
individuals according to a purely ethical classification, 
namely, according as they have accepted or rejected 
Christ. The ground of judgment is that of individual 
acts, whether they, be good or bad. 



278 ESCHATOLOGY. 

If our Lord had intended his words for nations as 
such, and not for individuals as sucli, he would have 
addressed kings and rulers, the representatives of public 
law and government, and speciiied wherein they had 
done right, and wherein they had misled and oppressed 
the people and robbed them of their rights. We say 
this would be natural. But nothing is said of this nat- 
ure or bearing. On the contrary, their attention is 
called to duties done, or left undone, which belong to 
private life, and to individual acts which affect hu- 
manity in the humbler walks of life, but which have no 
conceivable application to the administration of public 
law and justice. 

And the whole awful scene is climaxed with the 
formal pronouncement of their final reward, according 
as their works had been : " These shall go away into 
eternal punishment, and the righteous into eternal life." 
Yer. 6. Nothing can be added to or taken from this 
simple, literal, and final court scene. It stands, and will 
forever stand, a monumental warning to the living men 
of all nations. He that is " Lord both of the dead and 
living," Rom. xiv, 9, has here drawn back the curtain 
betAveen time and eternity, and assured us of two great 
facts in the moral government — the coming of Christ, 
and the judgment of the world by him. 

Before the Sanhedrin, on another occasion, the high- 
priest " adjured " (placed under oath) the blessed 
Saviour to declare unto them " whether he be the 
Christ, the Son of God." Jesus answered, "Thou hast 
said [it is as thou hast said]: nevertheless I say unto 
you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the 
right hand of power, and coining [erchomai] in the 
clouds of heaven." Matt, xxvi, 63, 64. These words 
cannot be taken out of their natural, literal signification. 
They are eschatological in the highest sense. They are 



The Coming of Christ. 279 

the words of Christ under oath. He will " sit upon the 
right hand of the throne of power. He will come in 
the clouds of heaven." The coming of Christ is literal, 
visible, public, or it is nothing. 

The next testimony to the fact of Christ's coming — a 
fact to be realized in its time — is from Acts i, 9-11: 
" And when he [Christ] had spoken these things, while 
they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him 
out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly 
toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood 
by them in white apparel; whicli also said. Ye men of 
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? this 
same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, 
sJiall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go 
into heaven." 

The minute circumstantiality of this record is a 
marked and marvelous feature. The language is con- 
densed, clear, and emphatic. The ascension was bodily, 
visible, gradual; so distinct and calm and attractive 
that the apostles stood " gazing up into heaven " after 
the Saviour had passed out of sight, and as if to catch 
another and last view. This simple circumstance shows 
the perfect naturalness of the narrative. That Christ 
ascended into heaven visibly, in his human nature, is 
not denied or doubted by those who admit the credi- 
bility and divine inspiration of holy Scripture. But 
does the passage clearly teach a second advent ? Let 
us take the items in their order. Observe, then, the 
whole scene was visible, cognizable by the senses, and 
hence a proper subject of testimony by witnesses. The 
apostles were called to testify these facts as a leading 
theme of their preaching. The narrative relates : 
" While they beheld, he was taken up. . . . They 
looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up," till a 
cloud received him. out of their sight. And still they 



280 ESCHATOLOGY. 

looked till the two angelic messengers accosted them: 
"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
heaven? " 

The fact that Christ had ascended into heaven bodily 
noAV took full possession of their minds. As an object- 
ive fact and reality they had the fullest occasion to 
know and to bear witness. The calling Lazarus from 
the grave was not better attested as a fact. The crown- 
ing miracle of the Saviour's miraculous earthly history 
was accomplished, which gave a new turn to the 
thoughts and hopes of the apostles. A crisis was upon 
them. They had " known Christ after the flesh, but 
now henceforth they would know him thus no more." 
2 Cor. V, 16. 

Jesus had foreseen the occasion, and had forewarned 
the disciples of the great facts of his departure and of 
his return. Tenderly he had said to them, " Ye have 
heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again 
unto you. . . . And now I have told you before it come 
to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. 
. . . These things I said not unto you at the beginning, 
because I was with you. But now I go my way to him 
that sent nie; and none of you asketh me. Whither 
goest thou ? But because I have said these things unto 
you, sorrow hath filled your heart. ... I came forth 
from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I 
leave the world, and go to the Father." And in his 
prayer he said: "And now I am no more in the world, 
but these are in the world, and I come to thee." John 
xiv, 28, 29; xvi, 4-6, 28; xvii, 11. 

It was at such a crisis, wrapped in wonder and mys- 
tery, that the apostles stood " gazing up into heaven " 
for one more glimpse of their now glorified Lord, when 
" two men in white apparel " appeared and reassured 
their faith by saying, " This same Jesus, which is taken 



Christ's Second Coming. 281 

up from you iuto heaven, shall so come in like manner 
as ye liave seen him go into heaven." Now the ques- 
tion is, What kind of *• coming again " will redeem this 
promise ? Observe, it is not the simple /ac^ of his com- 
ing which will suffice, but the fact and circumstances, 
or manner, of coming. It is not only promised that 
Christ will come again, but specifically that " this same 
Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen 1dm 
go into heaven.'''* A simply spiritual and invisible com- 
ing will not meet the demand, and cannot be thrown 
upon the text. A bodih^, visible coming from heaven is 
required to measure up to the fullness of the language, 
whether we take it in the Greek or in the common En- 
glish version. To suppose the "going" to be visible 
and bodily, and the "coming again" to be invisible and 
spiritual, is to break the harmony of the comparison and 
disrupt both the language and connection. 

That a bodily and visible " coming " is here intended 
is apparent by the use of the word tp;^o^at, translated 
come, AYe have had occasion already to notice the 
word, but will add that both by etymology and usage 
it is the proper and constant word for come. It occurs 
in the New Testament about five hundred and ninety 
times; twenty times it is clearly applied to the second 
coming of Christ, and in four places it is variously 
ti-anslated, but with the traceable idea of come, as ap- 
plied to the second coming. 

It must be remembered that, as we have already said, 
an effort is made to take this word, and all others which 
apply to the visible second coming of Christ, in the 
sense of presence of Christ instead of the coming of 
Christ, and thus to ignore the doctrine of Christ's sec- 
ond coming altogether. But, in such a case (we sj^eak 
with reverence), another form of speech would certainly 
have been used. AVhen our Saviour would speak of 
19 



282 EsCHATOLOGYo 

his abiding presence in the Church he says: " Lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the alibvog,''^ age, 
or dispensation (Matt, xxviii, 20); or, ''Where two or 
three are gathered together in ray name, there am I in 
the midst of them." Matt, xviii, 20. Such language we 
can understand. He speaks of his spiritual presence 
in the Church in the present tense, as being already 
there. He says, " There am I in the midst," " I am with 
you alway," etc. But when he speaks of his bodily, 
visible appearing, he says: "If I go and prepare a place 
for you, I loill come again, and receive you unto myself ; 
that where I am, there ye may be also." Also, "Ye 
have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come 
again unto you." John xiv, 3, 28. Such language we 
can understand. But the word erchomai,come, is never 
used in the sense of abiding, but always in the sense 
of coming; embodying two radical ideas — namely, that 
of departure from a place, and of arrival at or in a 
place. For example, it is said, "Then cometh he to a 
city of Samaria." John iv, 5. Here are the two dis- 
tinct places embraced in the word come — the place de- 
parted from and the place arrived at. Was the coming 
of the Saviour to Samaria proof that he was there bod- 
ily before he left Judea ? Is the " coming " to Samaria 
Ijroof of his abiding presence there? Let the reader 
compare the passage in consideration on Christ's going 
and coming — namely, " This same Jesus, which is taken 
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like r)%anner 
as ye have seen him go into heaven " — and let him try 
to fit the language to the notion of an abiding presence, 
omitting the word and idea of a personal coming, and 
the absurdity and violence to language will at once 
appear. 

In perfect accord with the views taken of Matt, xxv, 
31, 32, etc., are the two parables of our Saviour, deliv- 



Christ's Second Coming. 283 

ered on the same occasion; namely, the parable of the 
" ten virgins " and that of " the talents." In the first 
(Matt. XXV, 1-13), ^ve notice only a few points: the 
bridegroom "tarried." Ver. 5. At length the cry 
arose, "Behold the bridegroom cometh'''' (ver. 6); then, 
"the bridegroom came^^ (ver. 10); finally the admoni- 
tion, "watch, therefore; for ye know neither the day 
nor tlie hour wlierein the Son of man cometh.'^'' Ver. 13. 
A child could make the application, and no criticism 
can alter the obvious sense of the figure. 

In the parable of the "talents" it is said (vers. 
14-30), "After a long time the lord of those servants 
cometh, and reckoneth Avith them," etc. Ver. 19. One 
of tlie servants proved faithless and was convicted and 
punished: "Thou oughtest therefore to have put my 
money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should 
have received mine own with usury." Ver. 27. The in- 
vestigation is a court scene; the rewards of faithfulness 
are liberal and final, and the punishment of faithlessness 
and disloyalty just and also final. Here, then, we have 
the elements of the doctrine of the second coming of 
Christ. The language and imagery throughout are ut- 
terly incompatible with any other theory of interpreta- 
tion. The delays, for a time, of the bridegroom, and 
of " the lord of the servants," coming, in their times, to 
reward their servants and to punish the faithless; their 
coming at times not definitely revealed, though sure to 
occur, all accord with the future of Christ and his king- 
dom, as fully made known throughout the N^ew Testa- 
ment, and that they belong to the same class of Script- 
ures with Matt. XXV, 35-46, which is their proper and 
majestic climax. The verb translated co^ne is, through- 
out these predictions of the last days, ercliomai, thus 
proving this latter to be of the same signification as 
parousla, when applied to the future coming of Christ. 



284 ESCHATOLOGY. 

Again (Heb. ix, 27), "And as it is apj^ointed unto 
men once to die, but after tbis tbe judgment: so Christ 
was once offered to bear the sins of manj^; and unto them 
that look for him shall he appear the second time without 
sin [without a sin-offering] unto salvation." Here the 
" second time " of Christ's appearing is distinctly as- 
serted, and the comparison between the two advents — 
*' as it is appointed . . . so Christ was once offered " — 
proves the judgment after death to have been conceded 
and undisputed by those to whom the epistle is ad- 
dressed, and that as certain as Christ aj^peared the 
first time so certain is the second to come in its time. 
But very different are the objects of the two advents. 
At the first, Christ was " offered to bear the sins of 
many ; " at the second, " to them that look for him, 
he shall appear without a sin-offering, unto salvation." 
So it should be translated; for to say he shall appear 
the second time " without sin^'' is to say nothing. In 
Hebrew usage in the Old Testament the same word 
translated sin is also translated sin-offering, and it is 
only by its connection and the sense of the passage that 
the specific sense is determined. So also 2 Cor. v, 21. 
" For he hath made him to be sin [a sin-off er in g'\ for 
us," etc. The idea of sin-offering in both places is sus- 
tained by Hebrew usage, and by the sense of the con- 
nection. Putting both passages together we have this 
doctrine; namely, in 2 Cor. v, 25, Christ is declared to be 
a sin-offering ; in Heb. ix, 28, he is declared to appear 
*' without a sin-offering." By the first he came by the 
sacrifice of himself, to make atonement for sin; by the 
second he will come, not for atonement, but for "judg- 
ment." The one is a priestly ofiice, the other a kingly. 

The IN'ew Testament is replete with testimony to 
the kingly power of Jesus, and his coming the second 
time for judgment. Thus, 2 Cor. v, 10: 



Cueist's Second Coming. 285 

" For we must all appear before the judgment-seat 
of Christ; that every one msij receive the things done 
in his body, according to that he hath done, whether 
it be good or bad." The qualifying terms " The 
things done in his bodi/,^^ necessarily date the judgment 
subsequently to his mortal life, or life in the body. 
Again (Tit. ii, 12, 13), "We should live soberly, right- 
eously, and godly, in this present world; looking for 
that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the 
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Mark the 
notations of time: " In this present ^oor/c?," we should 
be '^ looking f 07' that blessed hope, and glorious appear- 
ing of Christ." Compare ^^ glorious appearing,^"* with 
Matt. XXV, 31, and Rev. xx, 11. 

Acts xvii, 31, " God . . . hath appointed a day, in 
the Avhicli he will judge the world in righteousness by 
that man whom he hath ordained." 

The second coming of Christ is often spoken of as 
the time of final reward to the righteous, and hence a 
day of joyful hope. Thus (1 Pet. v, 4), "And when the 
chief Shepherd shall appear, ye si i all receive a crown 
of glory that fadeth not away," 1 John ii, 28, "Abide 
in him [Christ] : that, when he shall appear, we may have 
confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his co;;z- 
ing.''^ 1 Tim. vi, 13, 14, "I give thee charge . . . that 
thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, 
until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 
i. 7, 8, "So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for 
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also con- 
firm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the 
day of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. iii, 13 : "To the 
end he may stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness 
before [emprosthen, in the presence of^ God, even our Fa- 
ther, at the coining [paroiisia'l of our Lord Jesus Christ 
with all his saints." Chap, ii, 19, " For what is our hope, 



286 ESCHATOLOGY. 

or joy, or crown of rejoicing ? Are not even ye, in 
the presence \emprosthei'i\ of our Lord Jesus Christ at 
his coining " parousia ? In these last two passages, 
emprosthen {jpresence) is distinct from pcirouski [com- 
ing); an incontestible proof that 2^^^'^''0f^^sia properly 
denotes coming when applied to the Saviour's advent, 
and another word is chosen for the distinctive idea of 
2:)7^esence. 

Jude 14, 15, "And Enoch also, the seventh from 
Adam [of the time of holy patriarchs], prophesied of 
these, saying. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thou- 
sand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to 
convince all that are ungodly among them of all their 
ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, 
and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners 
have spoken against him." The "Lord's coming^'' 
here is for judgment upon the ungodly. 



The Coming op Christ. 287 



CHAPTER XXL 

THE COMING OF CHRIST.— CoNTmuED. 
Tho Day of Judgment. 

Although the day and hour of the second coming of 
Christ and the final judgment are not revealed (see 
Matt, xxiv, 36, 42, 44, 50), yet an intimate approach 
to the date is given in the chronological order of 
events. This places the Saviour's coming immediately 
after the millennium, and after the battle of Cog 
and Magog. But after these events — we know not 
how long after, but next in order — the scene w^ill open 
by the appearance of Christ on his " great white 
throne," when immediately the general resurrection 
will take place, and the general and final judgment will 
follow. 

How long the period of the judgment will continue 
we are not told. The sacred Scriptures tell us it is a 
"day," which indicates a period of some duration, and 
a day which is carefully separated and distinguished 
from all other days. The events of that day are of a 
nature that, it would seem, would require time. The 
universe of rational beings will be assembled to wit- 
ness the judgment of the human race, which, for the 
moral effect it is to have on all ranks of being, must be 
deliberative, and with regular succession of thoughts 
such as the finite mind would require for this most 
solemn scene. Tlie moral effect of the administration 
is of primal importance. The universal mind must see 
and hear the reasons for the facts and motives which 
have made up the sum and reality of life, and receive 



288 ESCHATOLOGY. 

according to that which has been done, whether it be 
good or evil. 

It does not appear that the righteous will be raised 
simultaneously with the wicked. The apostle says, 
"The dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are 
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them 
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air," etc. This 
before the judgment of the wicked. 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. 
Jesus says the separation of the righteous from the 
wicked should take place before the judgment of the 
wicked. Matt, xxv, 31-46. They had no need to be 
judged further than to publish the record of their 
Christian life. They had settled tlieir account at the 
cross, and the fact need only be shown by their names 
written in the "book of life." 

Tlie author of the Epistle to the Hebrews specifically 
states that it wiil be "after death" (Heb. ix, 27), and 
others testify it will be a distinguished day. Thus: 
"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of 
temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of 
judgment to be punished." 2 Pet. ii, 9. " But the heavens 
and the earth, which are now, by the same word are 
kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of 
judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Chap, iii, 7. 
" And the angels which kept not their first estate, but 
left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlast- 
ing chains under darkness unto the judgment of the 
great day?'' Jude 6. " It shall be more tolerable for 
Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than 
for that city." Mark vi, 11. "Every idle word that 
men shall speak they shall give account thereof in 
the day of judgment y Matt, xii, 36. "I charge thee 
before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge 
the quick and the dead at his appearing and his king- 
dom,''^ etc, 2 Tim. iv, 1. ''And he commanded us to 



The Coming of Ciikist. 289 

preach unto the people, and to testify that it was he 
which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick 
and dead." Acts x, 42. "Because he hath appointed 
a day in the which he will judge the world in right- 
eousness by that man whom he hath ordained," etc. 
Acts xvii, 31. These, and such like forms of speech, 
freely declare that the judgment of men, wdth a purjDOse 
of immediate execution of sentence, will occur only in 
the eternal state immediately beyond the resurrection. 
All suffei-ings and inflictions in this life are but disci- 
plinary; the judgment of this day alone is retributive 
and final. 

The necessity of a judgment-day lies back in the 
exigency of moral government, as it now is, adminis- 
tered under a proviso of pardon. The very notion of a 
probationary state, such as is now given to man, implies 
forbearance toward offenders and a temporary suspen- 
sion of exact justice. And this suspension of full jus- 
tice, or penalty, may seem to result from indifference as 
to the iniquity of offense, or the fixed pur])ose of God 
to uphold his law. But to execute justice immedi- 
ately upon violation of law would be to set aside the 
provisions of grace, annul the idea of probation, and 
render nugatory the entire probationary, or gospel, 
scheme. In this state of thing^s God, the rio-hteous 
Judge, gives full assurance that the penalty, though 
suspended for a time for gracious purposes, will surely 
be inflicted upon all those who reject the offers of 
mercy and forgiveness, and that, in pursuance of the 
plan of salvation, a day of judgment is appointed, for 
the adjudication of human conduct, in Avhich a just judg- 
ment will be rendered to every man according to his 
works. To deny a day of judgment, therefore, is to 
deny the only and sufficient means by which man's 
accountability can be sustained, and the just Judge 



290 ESCHATOLOGY. 

can vindicate his ways with man, and show to the 
universe the rectitude of the divine Saviour in the 
support of moral government. 

For what is moral accountability but a full and just 
liability for one's acts, and their consequences, as judged 
by the law of God ? ISTow, to say that there is no day 
of judgment in v/hich all acts or doings are to be justly 
adjudged is to say there is no provision in the knowl- 
edge of man for calling men to such account. To say 
tliat such a provision is made, and realized in the pre- 
sent state and constitution of things, is to contradict 
the most j^^tent fact in the world's history. To say 
that men will have a probation in the future life, and 
there obtain forgiveness, is begging the question. x\nd 
who can tell if a second trial will succeed where the first 
has failed ? And who can tell whether there is any fu- 
ture probation ? The Bible gives no authority for such 
a belief. On that theory the souls of the wicked are 
to be kept on probation till they repent and obtain 
pardon. But who can tell if they will ever repent ? 
And if not, they will certainly never be called to judg- 
ment ; that is, they will never be called to give account 
of their sins. If the opportunity and advantages for 
repentance and reconciliation are no better there than 
here and now, the results will prove no better than 
in this life. If the advantages will be better then than 
now, it follows that the divine Lawgiver offers a jDre- 
mium to men to "neglect the great salvation" till after 
death; for the sin of rejecting Christ here will be 
rewarded by better conditions there; and all this by 
virtue of a government provision. 

But we turn from these profitless, not to say blas- 
piiemous, speculations, and say, with Peter, "For, for 
this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are 
[now] dead, that they might be judged according to 



The Comixg of Christ. 291 

men in the flesh, but live according to God in the 
spirit. But the end of all things is at hand: be ye 
therefore sober and watch unto prayer." 1 Pet. iv, 6, 7. 
And Jude 14, 15: "Behold, tlie Lord cometh with ten 
thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, 
and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all 
their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly com- 
mitted, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly 
sinners have spoken against him." 

The second coming of Christ is not for partial ends, 
but for the consummation of the great scheme of re- 
demption in all its breadth and wondrous departments. 
" He does not come only to conclude the preaching of 
the Gospel, but also to close the duration of the world 
— to transform the world of faith, in which dwelleth 
righteousness and blessedness, into a world of sight, to 
awaken the dead, to judge the living and the dead, and 
to conduct the children of God to the inheritance of 
eternal bliss." "^ 

As men shall be found to have spurned mercy they 
will fall back under the penal claim of law, and simple 
justice will take its course; and "it is a fearful thing to 
fall into the hands of the living God." Heb. x, 31. 

The execution of penalt}^ is the most solemn act of 
government, and hence in all well-regulated human 
governments the process of trial and condemnation is 
conducted with the greatest formality, impartiality, and 
care. The day and hour of trial are carefully appointed; 
the accused is brought into court, confronting the accu- 
sation; facts are searched out, and the law carefully 
examined and applied. All other business is suspended 
to the fullest extent necessary to the justice of the final 
decision of the case. By all 23rinciples of just govern- 
ment known to man, and by all declarations of holy 
*Xitzsch's System of Christian Doctrine, p. 386. 



292 ESCHATOLOGT. 

Scripture, those who have refused obedience to law 
must be judged only by law. If the precept of law be 
violated the penalty of law must be inflicted. If they 
have rejected the only provision for pardon and recon- 
ciliation in Christ, " there reniaineth no more sacrifice for 
sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and 
fiery indiguation, which shall devour the adversaries." 
Heb. X, 26, 27. This is the course of justice, and it is in- 
evitable. There could be no just government without it. 

But just here we are met with another requisite of 
salutary administration : the whole process must be pub- 
lic. Not only must the administration be just, but it 
must be openly known and confessed to be just. In 
order to this it must be public. Men must know the 
steps taken, and the result attained, and in their own 
spontaneous moral consciousness must approve them. 
Thus, and only thus, could the moral support of just 
government be attained and established. And thus, 
also, are men warned, and restrained from transgression, 
and the exemplariness of judicial proceedings, so essen- 
tial to the moral force of government, secured. The 
deterrent influence of penalty is a chief end of penalty. 

But the present administration of moral government, 
during man's probationary state, does not exhibit the 
solemnities of a judicial trial and execution. Men are 
careless in sin, and open and persistent in transgression. 
The current lives and conduct of transgressors give no 
adequate evidence of the accountability of man nor the 
terrors of a judgment-scene. The sin of yesterday is, 
in the face of moral law, repeated to-day. Men are 
jovial and jubilant and careless and blasphemous, de- 
spising the claims of religion and the restraints of divine 
warnings. " They set their mouth against the heavens, 
and their tongue walketh through the earth. . . . And 
they say, How doth God know ? and is there knowledge in 



The Comixg of Christ. 293 

the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who 
prosper in the world." Psa. Ixxiii, 9-12. Sage men, and 
holy, have paused at this point and, like the prophet, 
asked, " Wherefore are all they happy that deal very 
treaeherousl}' ? " Jer. xii, 1. Not only are wicked men 
often prosperous, but they prosper because they are 
wicked and choose wicked devices ; and the rigliteous 
suffer because they are righteous and choose and prac- 
tice the will of God. The inequality of rewards and 
jDunishraents under the present mediatorial admhiis- 
tration of moral government, without an assurance of a 
future judgment-day, in which perfect justice shall bo 
meted out to every human being, would leave an inef- 
faceable reproach upon "the Judge of all the earth." 
The redemptive plan gives to man a new probation, 
and this involves the suspension of penalty for a season, 
and, by the laws of free agency, it involves also the 
possibility of wrong-doing, and rebellion against both 
law and grace. Instant punishment would soon deter 
transgressors, or sweep them from the earth. But "be- 
cause sentence against an evil work is not executed 
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully 
set in them to do evil." Eccl. viii, 11. 

To deny, therefore, the doctrine of a future judgment- 
day is to deny, by necessary sequence, the doctrine of 
human accountability, for there is left no other tribunal 
to admeasure sin, adjudge guilt, and enforce punishment. 

The Holy Scriptures abound in warnings and in assev- 
erations of a future government, and that Christ shall 
be the Judge. Christ himself thus states the solem fact: 

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and 
all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the 
throne of his gloiy: and before him shall be gathered 
all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, 
as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats: and 



204 ESCHATOLOGT. 

he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats 
on the left. Then shall the king say unto them on his 
right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
world: for I was a hungered and ye fed me. . . . Then 
shall he say also unto them on the left. Depart from me, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, j^repared for the devil 
and his angels: for I was a hungered, and ye gave me 
no meat," etc. Matt, xxv, 31-42. 

This passage we have already quoted, but for other 
purposes than the present ; namely, to show the exter- 
nality and visibility of Christ's appearing ; this, to sliow 
his kingly and judicial authority. We are not to sup- 
pose that the statement " Before him shall be gathered 
all nations," etc., was a call to judgment of the nations 
as such, and therefore distinct from the individual judg- 
ment of the last day. The classification is according 
to individual character, according to individual accept- 
ance or rejection of Christ, and the rewards of punish- 
ments are personal and final. Nothing less than this 
could answer to the descriptions given. The tots, then, 
connects with OTav, ichen, in tlie first member of the 
verse : " WJten the Son of man shall come, . . . then shall 
he sit upon the throne of his glory." The "throne of 
his glory," upon which he shall sit immediately follows 
his '■''coming, [erchomai] in his glory" — a description 
purely eschatological. The first coming was " in the form 
of a servant," and " in fashion like a man." Phil, ii, 7, 8. 
The second shall be "in his glory, and all the holy 
angels with him." In the first he suffered, died, and 
made priestly atonement for sin; in the second "he 
shall sit upon the throne of his glory" for the judg- 
ment of the world. He does not give the solar day or 
date of his coming, but "?/;Ae:^" he shall come, "^!/^e?^" 
shall he appear in his regal and judicial sovereignty. 



Corist's Caee of His Own Elect. 295 



CHAPTER XXII. 

CHRIST'S CARE OF HIS O^YN ELECT. 
The Intermediate State. 

In the brief statements which we purpose to make 
on this subject we shall not attempt formal proof 
against the Sadducean doctrine that there is no angel, 
spirit, or resurrection ; nor against the unscriptural 
and absurd notion that the soul sleeps in uncon- 
sciousness between death and the resurrection. If the 
proof in support of the truth shall be adequate, the 
error falls to the ground. We sliall assume that the 
soul is immortal, and that it continues in self-con- 
scious existence apart from the body, as in connection 
with it. 

The intermediate state, as it is called, is the state, 
situation, or condition of souls between death and the 
resurrection and final judgment. Where do the de- 
parted souls of the righteous and the wicked go, and 
Avhat are the circumstances of their being, are ques- 
tions belonging strictly to the sphere of eschatology. 
There is a distinction betvv^een the intermediate state, 
and the intermediate place, of departed souls. The 
simple 2tbl, or whtre of the soul is of secondary im- 
portance; the moral condition is of infinite moment. 
But the righteous, dying, go to a place prepared and 
suitable to their character; so also of the wicked. 
Heaven is not only a j^lace, but a state as well; so also 
is it with the wicked. The character determines the 
place in either case;, and it may be constantly and confi- 
dently assumed that whatever may be said of the con- 



296 ESCHATOLOGY. 

dition of the righteous, the condition of the wicked 
must be its opposite, both as to place and character. 

The place of this intermediate state of the dead was 
called by the Hebrews sheohl, which signifies a pit^ the 
grave., under-world., region of the dead. It is used in 
all these senses, and as a receptacle of the dead it was 
supposed to be situated under the world — a deep and 
shadowy region. The Greeks called it hades, a word 
derived from a, privative, and eido, to see ; not to see, 
imseen, that is, the uoiseen loorld, tlie world I do not see. 
This hades they divided into two compartments; one 
was called ehjsium, and the other tartarns. The latter 
word occurs in 2 Pet. ii, 4, where it is translated "hell." 
The school-men added several other divisions of hades, 
but the two mentioned are sufficient to represent tlie 
supposed doctrine of an intermediate place. This doc- 
trine is held by the Roman Catholic Church, the Church 
of England, and in general by the denominations of 
the Protestant family. It is not in all cases, however, 
held as a dogma except in the Romish Church, but is 
generally admitted, with full liberty of dissent. It is 
not, moreover, held that the two classes of good and 
evil spirits mingle together in hades, but that they re- 
main widely apart, according to their degree of moral 
fitness or unfitness for heavenly or penal rewards. 

But the doctrine of the intermediate place, however 
plausible, is a derivation of pagan mythology, not of 
Holy Scripture. The rapid spread of the Gospel among 
heathen and Jewish nations brought into the Christian 
Church a mass of mind tinctured with heathen philoso- 
phy; men who held the doctrine, philosophers and un- 
educated minds alike, that those Avho die unprepared 
for a blissful reward were detained in hades until puri- 
fied and fit for the abodes of the blessed. The Christian 
religion greatly modified and corrected the error, but 



Christ's Care of His Own Elect. 297 

did not fully dispel it. The Jews themselves held to 
the doctrine of prayer and sacrifice for the dead. At 
length, five hundred years after the apostle John, who 
taught widely different, Gregory the Great foisted the 
belief into dogma, and it became thenceforward incor- 
porated in the creed of the Christian Church. "He 
was the first writer [A. D. 590] who clearly propounded 
the idea of a deliverance from purgatory by intercessory 
prayer, and by masses for the dead, that they might ob- 
tain forgiveness and fitness for final judgment." * 

An instance occurred one hundred and sixty years be- 
fore Ciirist which illustrates the drifting of the Jewish 
mind from the Old Testament standard toward heathen- 
ism, as a natural result of speculations on the inter- 
mediate state of the dead. It is recorded 2 Mace, xii, 
43-45, that after a battle in whicli the Jews were vic- 
torious they turned back to bury their dead, and found 
on their inner garments the images of idolatry, where- 
upon they sent two thousand drachms of silver (equal 
to three hundred dollars) to Jerusalem for a sin-offering 
for ihe dead, to which also intercessory prayer was 
added; and the account adds: "It is, therefore, a holy 
and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they 
7nay be loosed from sin." To which the translator of 
the Douay Bible (Roman Catholic) adds: ''Here is an 
evident and undeniable proof of the practice of praying 
for the dead under the old law, which was still strictly 
observed by the Jews, and consequently could not be 
introduced at that time, if it had not always been their 
custom." The Council of Trent, A. D. 1545, having 
incorporated the Apocryphal books and the traditions 
of the Christian fathers into the sacred canon, " as of 
equal authoritj^ with the Old and ISTew Testaments," 
may now find in their Bible thus enlarged proof of an 

* Haorenbaeli's Hist. Doctr. vol. ], p. 375. 
20 



298 ESCHATOLOGY. 

intermediate state, with its purgatory and prayers and 
sacrifices for tlie dead. 

But Protestants have no occasion for making a new 
Bible in order to defend a dootrine which is of heathen 
origin. The doctrine of an intermediate place is still 
largely admitted, and though it has always been held 
by the papists in the interests of the further doctrine of 
prayer and masses for the dead, and though this is its 
logical outcome, yet Protestants almost universally dis- 
avow this conclusion. 

That the full rewards of both good and evil will not 
be given till the resurrection and final judgment is 
clearly taught in Scripture. Reason teaches the same ; 
for if human accountability be just and true, then men 
are held liable for their acts, and for the consequences 
of their acts, commensurate to the limit of their under- 
standing. ISTow, it is clear enough that the good or 
evil consequences of human action do outlive the earthly 
life of the actor, and that men who know that they act 
under this liability do nevertheless act with culpable 
indifference to it, and often with direct intention that 
the posthumous consequences of their acts shall pass 
over into that future state for judgment. It would, 
therefore, be mockery of reason and of justice to ignore 
these facts and assume that men are judged and re- 
warded immediately upon their death, and in this light 
an intermediate state becomes a necessity of govern- 
ment. The final rewards must be given only when the 
aggregate sum of human responsibilit}^ is ascertained — 
that is, at the final judgment. But this does not neces- 
sitate a middle place for their reception, but only an 
intermediate state congenial to their moral character. 

The Bible teaches us that there are two, and only two, 
receptacles of souls beyond the grave, or after death; 
one the abode of the righteous, the other the abode 



Christ's Care of His Oavx Elect. 299 

of the wicked. Thus, "Broad is the way, that leadeth 
to destruction. . . . Strait is the gate, and narrow is llie 
way, that leadeth unto life." Matt, vii, 13, 14. "The 
beggar died, and was carried by tlie angels into Abra- 
Iiani's bosom : the rich man also died, and was buried; 
and in hades he lifted up his e3^es, being in torment." 
Luke xvi, 22, 23. 

The Holy Scriptures are rich and replete in the assur- 
ances they give that the righteous go directly, after 
their decease, to the final abodes of the blessed. So 
Phil, i, 23, "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a 
desire to depart and to he loith Christ, which is far bet- 
ter." And again (2 Cor. v, 6-8): "Therefore we are 
always confident, Jcnoioing that, whilst we are at home in 
the body, we are absent from the Lord: . . . we are confi- 
dent, I say, and willing rather to he ahsent from the 
hody, and to he present with the Lord.'''' This language 
cannot be mistaken. Rev. xiv, 13, "And I heard a 
voice from heaven saying unto me. Write, Blessed are 
the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, 
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; 
and their works do follow them." These are blessed 
'■'' lienceforth j''"' that is, immediately, from the moment 
of dying and onward without limit of time. 

When our Lord said to the dying penitent thief, 
" Yerily I say unto thee. To-day shalt thou be with me 
'\\\ paradise^^ (Luke xxiii, 43), he did not say, "To-day 
shalt thou be with me in hades," or "the region of the 
dead," or "the place of departed spirits," as distinct 
from heaven. Paradise is well known, in the ISTew Tes- 
tament usage, as the place of blessedness; equal in im- 
port to " heaven ;" not as limbus or hades, but as the 
place of the presence and throne of God. In Pev. ii, 7 
the ultimate bliss of reward is thus stated : " To him 
that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life. 



300 ESCI-IATOLOGY. 

ichich'is in the midst of the paradise of God!'^ This 
" tree of life " which is " in the midst of the paradise 
of God," is also, in chapter xxii, 2, represented as being 
by the river of life in the city ISTew Jerusalem (de- 
scribed chapter xxi), with all other accompaniments 
of the final blessedness. LanQ^uao'e cannot be more 
specific. 

So, also, when the apostle Paul described the won- 
derful visions with whicli God has favored him, he said 
he was '• caught up into the third heaven," caught up, 
he says, to "paradise" (2 Cor. xii, 2, 4), using "para- 
dise " and the " third heavens " interchangeably, as of 
equal import, and making paradise the seat of his 
revelations. 

When John was about to receive bis first revelations 
of the prophetic future he was first permitted to behold 
how the saints worshiped and gave thanks, that " the 
Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, had pre- 
vailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals 
tliereof." Rev. v, 5. All heaven was summoned to be 
present and celebrate the gladsome hour. And the 
saints were there: "And they sung a new song, saying, 
Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the 
seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed 
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, 
and people, and nation ; and hast made us unto our God 
kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." 
Rev. A^, 9, 10. Then followed " the voice of many 
angels round the throne, and the living creatures, and 
the elders : and the number of them was ten thousand 
times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying 
with a loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain," 
etc. Yers. 11-14. Here, then, we find the whole com- 
pany of the saints who had died since man was created 
upon the earth, present, with God and tlie Lamb and 



Christ's Care of His Oavx Elect. 301 

all the companies of heavenly beings^ to celebrate the 
opening of the " book " of the yet nnf ulfilled prophecy 
relating to the Church, and the consninmation of the 
i-edemptive economy. The saints were in their proper 
place ill heaven, and ronnd about the " throne," not in 
hades, or any intermediate place. 

In Rev. yi, 9-11, we are introduced to a melancholy 
scene — " the era of the martyrs." The sacred penman 
thus records it : " And when he had opened the fifth 
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were 
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which 
they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, 
How long, O I^ord, holy and true, dost thou not judge 
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? 
And white robes were given unto every one of them; 
and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet 
for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and 
tlieir brethren, that should be killed as they were, 
should be fulfilled." 

This flying to the altar for protection and justice is 
an ancient custom. See Exod. xxi, 14 ; 1 Kings i, 50 ; 
ii, 28. Like the cities of refuge, it was an appeal to 
God against all violence and injustice in the adminis- 
tration of law, and for mercy and protection if the act 
might be forgiven. The souls of the martyrs, by an 
allegory, bring their cause directly before God. There, 
at the foot of the altar — probably the altar of incense 
within the veil — they plead, prostrate, with God, against 
the wasting violence of persecution. We can only call 
attention to the fact that the souls of the martyrs were 
not in hades, or any intermediate section of the world, 
but in the holy tabernacle of God, before his presence. 
The altar and tabernacle were never in hades. If we 
were to speak as to the historic time of the " fifth 
seal," we should place it in the reign of Diocletian and 



302 ESCHATOLOGT, 

some of his successors, beginning soon after his acces- 
sion to the throne (A. D. 284), and continuing ten 
years. It was the bloodiest of all the Gentile perse- 
cutions, and it was the last, as we shall show imme- 
diately. God had said to his beloved and faithful mar- 
tyrs, " Rest yet for a little season," and it j)roved only 
a little season. 

The seventh chapter of Revelation is an episode be- 
tween the first six seals, past, and the seventh seal, or 
its seven trumpets, yet to come. If we were to give 
its chronological position, we should say the sixth seal 
terminates in the downfall of the pagan government 
and religion in the Roman Empire by the decree of 
Constantine the Great A. D. 313. It was a period of 
unprecedented mental activity, commotion, and, on the 
part of the heathen, of distress and wailing. Read 
Rev. vi, 12-17. Not only was the political power of 
the empire to persecute the Church gone forever, but 
the Roman govei-nnient was declared to be Christian. 
It was not, however, till ninety-seven years afterward 
■ — namely, A. D. 410 — that paganism, as a religious or- 
ganization in the empire, was exterminated. But to 
return to our argument. The sealing of the saints — 
God's mark of recognition and protection — being ac- 
complished (vers. 3, 4), the Church again comes to 
our notice. John says, "After this I beheld, and, lo, a 
great multitude, which no man could number, of all 
nations, and kindreds, and peoj^le, and tongues, stood 
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with 
white robes, and j^alms in their hands; and cried with a 
loud voice, saying. Salvation to onr God which sitteth 
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the an- 
gels stood round about the throne, and about the elders 
and the four living creatures, and fell before the throne 
on their faces and worshiped God, saying, Amen: Bless- 



Christ's Care of His Owx Elect. 303 

ing, and gloiy, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and 
honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for 
ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders an- 
swered, saying unto me, What are these which are 
arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And 
I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to 
me. These are they which came out of great tribuha- 
tion, and have w^ashed their robes and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. Tlierefore are they 
before the throne of God, and serve him day and night 
in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall 
dwell among them. . . . For the Lamb which is in the 
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them 
unto living fountains of w^ater," etc. Rev. vii, 9-17. 

Here, then, the Church appears in her glory, with 
the heavenly beings worshiping God. It was " a great 
multitude w^hich no man could number, of all nations, 
and kindreds, and people, and tongues;" that is, not a 
select number, but the entire body of the redeemed; 
and it is impossible to give any pertinence or meaning 
to the clear and full and oft-repeated notations of place 
and condition of the saints — such as, " They stood be- 
fore the throne and before the Lamb; " "they stood 
before the throne;" "therefore are they before the 
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his tem- 
ple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among 
them. . . . For the Lamb which is in the midst of the 
throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living 
fountains of w^aters." "We say it is impossible to give 
any pertinence or meaning to this language, as describ- 
ing the place and condition of the redeemed saints, on 
the h^^pothesis of an intermediate place in hades. They 
are distinguished from the angels, for "they have 
washed their robes and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb." 



304 EsCHATOLOGYo 

In chapter viii the seventh seal is opened, and is divided 
into seven trumpets, or subperiods. Four of these 
trumpet periods are compressed in the eighth chapter, 
and reach to about A. D. 476, the date of the downfall 
of the western branch of the Roman Empire. Two of 
the remaining trumpet periods find their dates in the 
first one hundred and forty years of the Saracenic or 
Mohammedan wars, beginning with the first declaration 
of war by Mohammed, A. D. 622, and ending A. D. 
756. At the latter date we open chapter x to chapter 
xviii as the period and downfall of antichrist, followed 
by the millennium. 

The reader will keep in mind that the direct line of 
our argument leads us to present the Scripture state- 
ments of the place of abode of the dead between death 
and the final judgment. 

In chap, xii, 10 it is said: "I heard a loud voice say- 
ing in heaven. Now is come salvation, and strength, and 
the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: 
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which ac- 
cused them before our God day and night." Although 
it is not said that the united Church gave forth this 
announcement, yet it was in behalf of the Church, and 
by one of the members of the Church, that it was done. 
Hence he calls the redeemed " our brethren." " There- 
fore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them." 
There would be no pertinence in thus speaking to and 
for the Church if they were not present in " heaven." 
And thus it is also said, in chapter xi, 16-19, that " the 
four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their 
seats," who were the representatives of the Church, 
worshiped and gave thanks, that God had now openly 
entered into judgment with the nations, "and that he 
would give reward unto his servants the prophets, and 
to the saints," etc. We say the whole body of the 



Christ's Cake of His Own Elect. 005 

saints are supposed to be present in heaven to hear and 
join in the service. 

In Rev. xiv, 1-5, we have tlie Churcli assembled with 
the Lamb on Mount Zion. " And they sung as it were 
a new song before the throne, . . . and no man could 
learn that song but the hundred and forty and four 
thousand, which were redeem'?d from the earth. . . . 
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are 
without fault before the throne of God." Here also is 
the place of the gatliering carefully noted; they were 
on " Mount Zion," the spiritual Mount Zion, which is 
in " the Jerusalem which is above," and " before the 
throne." 

Similar to this is the vision of Rev. xv, 1-5. The 
scene is laid in the temple, within the first veil, as the 
" sea of glass " indicates (see 1 Kings vii, 23), and 
Avithin the second veil, or "holy of holies." Yers. 5, 8. 
" And they sino- the sono^ of Moses the servant of God, 
and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous 
are thy works. Lord God Almighty ; just and true are 
thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear 
thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for tliou only art 
holy: for all nations shall come and worship before 
thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." 

Over the fall of " Babylon, the mother of harlots,"we 
again see the true, and now the triumphant. Church stand- 
ing in the forefront of the happy myriads, leading their 
singing and their worship. Earth and heaven will never 
again witness such an occasion. The apostle says : " And 
after these things I heard a great voice of much people in 
heaven, saying. Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honor, 
and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous 
are his judgments; for he hath judged the great whore, 
which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and 
hath aveno-ed the blood of his servants at her hand. And 



300 EsCHzVTOLOGY. 

again they said, Alleluia. . . . And I heard as it were 
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many- 
waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, 
Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let 
us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the 
marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made 
herself ready. And to her was granted that she should 
be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white : for the fine 
linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto 
me. Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the 
marriage supper of the Lamb." Rev. xix, 1-9. 

Now, it is indisputable that in all this triumphal 
praise and thanksgiving the Church stood apart, distin- 
guished from all other heavenly worshipers, except in 
verse 4, the "four and twenty elders, and the four liv- 
ing creatures" responded, "Amen; Alleluia." The 
^^ tnuch 2^eo2:)le \\\ heaven," (ver. 1), and "ye that fear 
God, both small and great ; " the " marriage of the 
Lamb," " his wife who made herself ready," are indica- 
tions of a suffering but now triumphant Church, and 
of their abode in heaven. And in all the many allusions 
to the Church through all her mighty sufferings and 
struggles, so faithfully recorded by John, we have 
found that they have appeared in heaven upon their 
decease as the place of their permanent abode. No- 
where is there the slightest allusion to hades, or the 
under world, or any other intermediate place, but in 
heaven itself, to which the souls of the departed saints 
go. It is difficult to say what form of evidence could 
be more conclusive. 



Cheist's Caee of IIis Own Elect. 307 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

CHRIST'S CARE OF HIS OWN ELECT.— Coxtixced. 
The Intermediate State. 

In continuance of the argument against a separate, 
intermediate state and jjlace, it may be asked, Did not 
Peter in his sermon on the day of Pentecost quote 
Christ prophetically as saying, " Thou wilt not leave 
my soul in hades ? " In reply to this question we ob- 
serve: first, the word hades occurs eleven times in the 
Xew Testament; in three places it may properly be 
understood to denote the place of future punishment — 
namely. Matt, xi, 23 ; Luke x, 15, and xi, 23. In 
one place it is translated "grave" (1 Cor. xv, 55) — "O 
grave, wliere is thy victory ? " In five places it is 
translated "hell" where the sense is obviously "f/r<2ve," 
or the region of death; namely. Matt, xvi, 18; Rev. i, 
18, and vi, 8, and xx, 13, 14. The two remaining, 
namely, Acts ii, 27, 31, are those in question, and which 
we understand to signify the grave, or the region of 
the dead, the region over which death reigns ; " the 
place and receptacle of the dead ; " and we thus under- 
stand it for the following reasons : First, it is in accord 
with the sense given by Greek classic and Septuagint 
usage, and the Hebrew usage of sheol, which it every- 
where represents. Secondly, to sup^^ose that Christ 
went to hell, or to purgatory, is simply shocking and 
blasphemous. Thirdly, the scope and connection of Acts 
ii, 27, 31 simply restricts the meaning of hades to the 
word grave; the entombment of the Saviour. The word 
translated " soul " (ipvx^) often takes its sense of life, 



308 ESCHATOLOGY. 

which exactly suits the point of Peter's ai-gument. The 
original form is poetical, and by giving the distich in 
full it will be seen that it is a synonymous parallelism 
requiring this sense, thus: 

" Thou wilt not abandon ray life in the grave, 

Neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption." 

It will be readily seen, therefore, that the apostle is not 
speaking of Christ's soul, but of his body; that it was 
not left, or abandoned, in the grave till it saw corrup- 
tion, and so has no reference whatever to the human 
soul of the Saviour. It cannot, therefore, offer any proof 
that Christ went to hades, or the supposed place of de- 
parted spirits, or anywhere else but to paradise, as he 
promised the penitent thief (Luke xxiii, 43), " This 
day shalt thou be with me in j^aradise." The original 
text (Psa. xvi, 10) fully sustains this view. Peter 
quotes it verbatim, only using Hebrew words instead 
of Greek. David prophetically speaks of Christ as 
saying, " Thou wilt not forsake my soul to, or in, 
sheol." Sheol here, as often, simply means grave, or 
region of the dead. The Hebrew word nephesh, trans- 
lated soul, is often used pronominally for person, self, 
9ne, and with a suffix signifies myself, etc., as, " All the 
souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy 
souls;'''' that is, 2^erso)is. "According to the number of 
your persons^'' Hebrew, souls. " Whosoever hath killed 
any person^'' Hebrew, hath killed any soul. " Many say 
of ???(?," Hebrew, of ony soul. "Say unto my soul;^^ 
that is, say unto 7ne. See Exod. i, 5, and xvi, 16 ; Num. 
xxxi, 3; Psa. iii, 2, and xxxv, 3. Such examples are nu- 
merous. They are simply Hebraic forms, the same in 
signification whether in English, Greek, or Hebrew. It 
is, therefore, in jjerf ect harmony with usage to read the 
original passage in question as we have read Peters 



Christ's Care of His 0"^VN Elect. 809 

quotation, simph^, " Thou Avilt not leave me [myself] in 
the grave^^ etc. And all efforts \o press the language 
into support of an intermediate place are as unauthor- 
ized and absurd as the theory of purgatory itself. 

The 2:)assage of 1 Pet. iii, 19, 20 has been pressed 
into the support of an intermediate state of souls, and 
of the belief that Christ went down into the under 
world among " the spirits " of the dead, and there 
preached, or published, redemption to the lost. The 
passage reads thus: " For Christ also hath once suffered 
for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God, be- 
ing 2)ut to death in the flesh, but quickened [brought to 
life] by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached 
unto the spirits in prison ; which sometime were dis- 
obedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited 
in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing." 

We shall better understand this passage by consider- 
ing its parts separately. Thus: First, the fact of 
Christ's preaching to the spirits in prison, namely, the 
affirmation, "he went and preached" to them ; secondly, 
the mode or method of his preaching, namely, "by which 
[spirit] he went and preached," etc.; thirdly, the time 
of his going and preaching, namely, " aforetime, in the 
days of Noah, while the ark was a pre])aring." 

On the second division above given it is important to 
fix attention upon the true antecedent and relative in the 
passage. The relative pronoun w, loliich, or lohom, natu- 
rally construes Avith rcveviiaac, sjnrit, m the previous verse. 
This gives the form in accordance with tlie common 
version, "by wJiich [Holy Spirit] he went and preached 
unto the spirits in prison." It would be in violation of 
just grammatical principles to make " Christ^'' the ante- 
cedent to '''■ wlioin,^'' when the word "spirit" is nearer 
and more in harmony with the connection and the anal- 
ogy of usage, and we might also say the analogy of 



310 ESCHATOLOGY. 

faith. But another question arises. Does TTvevfiaai 
spirit, (ver, 18), signify the Holy Spirit, or only the hu- 
man spirit of Christ? The common English version 
says the former, giving the capital to the word, thus: 
"For Christ . . . was put to death in the flesh, hut 
quickened [made alive] by the Spirit." The strong 
adversative particle (5e, " but,'''' makes an antithesis be- 
tween "death" and "made alive." Ver. 8. Thus: 

" Christ was put to death in the flesh : 
Christ was made alive by the Spirit." 

Now, if the death be physical, the quickening, or mak- 
ing alive, must be physical revivification. Who, then, 
was the cause of this new physical life, or resurrection ? 
The text says "the Spirit," that is, the Holy Spirit. It 
is against the antithesis to assume the quickening to be 
less or other than the resurrection life. But if this be 
so, then it follows that the Holy Spirit himself, not 
Christ, went and preached to the spirits now in prison, 
and he did this " in the days of Noah, while the ark 
was a preparing." 

And this is in harmony with what is elsewhere re- 
corded. God said of the antediluvians " My spirit shall 
not always strive with man" (Gen. vi, 3); showing that 
the Holy Spirit was the mighty agency engaged to 
bring that generation to repentance. And this agency 
is ascribed to the Holy Spirit as a vital factor in the 
sacrificial atonement of Christ: "Christ, who through 
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God." 
Heb. ix, 14. And another passage seems to allude to 
the preaching of the Gospel to the antediluvians in 
Noah's time: "For this cause was the gospel preached 
also to them that, are dead, that they might be judged 
according to men in the flesh, but live according to God 
in the spirit." 1 Pet. iv, 6. 



Christ's Cars of His Owx Elect. 311 

The object of the apostle in 1 Pet. iii, 18-20 was to 
show that suifering for Christ's sake is not an evidence 
of badness in the Christian cause, nor of slackness on 
the part of the divine Lord and Lawgiver, but an una- 
voidable incident or contingent of the gospel scheme. 
For if, after the first transgression, the race is put upon 
a new probation, there must be a temporary suspension 
of penalty and forbearance with offenses and offenders 
till their probation or trial is completed. The antedihi- 
vians are cited as an example of divine patience, and 
the goodness of God in giving even them a day of of- 
fered grace, but the passage offers no evidence that 
Christ ever went in person into hades, or that there is 
even such a place as hades. 

The Rheims version (Roman Catliolic) gives the pas- 
sage of 1 Pet. iii, 20 thus: "When they waited for the 
patience of God in the days of ISToah ; " as if the antedi- 
hivians were, or had been, waiting, waiting in expecta- 
tion of another da}' of grace, which should bring re- 
prieve, and in a note of the translators says: " Spirits in 
prison. See here a j)roof of a third place, or middle 
state of souls ; for these spirits in prison, to whom Christ 
went to preach, after his death, were not in heaven, nor 
yet in the hell of the damned; because heaven is no 
prison, and Christ did not go to preach to the damned." 
When shall true biblical theology purge itself from 
these traditional fragments of pagan superstition ? 

The passage 1 Cor. iii, 15, "But he himself shall be 
saved, yet so as by fire," has been suj^posed to teach sal- 
vation through or by purgatorial fire. But the language 
is to be taken simplj^ proverbially, to indicate narrow and 
perilous escape, as " We went through fire and through 
water," (Psa. Ixvi, 12); " When ihou walkest through the 
fire thou shalt not be burned," (Isa. xliii, 2) ; " Ye were 
as a brand plucked out of the burning," (Amos iv, 11). 



312 ESCHATOLOGY. 

It has been inferred that the words of the Saviour re- 
corded in Matt, xii, 32 imj^ly that there is pardon for 
the guilty after death, excepting only the blasphemer 
against the Holy Ghost. The words are : '• And who- 
soever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be 
forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world 
to come." Bat this may be only an intensive form of 
speech ; or we may suppose the Saviour uses an ad. 
hominem argument, forcible to his hearers in view of 
their peculiar faith, though not equally conclusive to 
men of an opposite faith. It is certain that the Jews 
did believe that pardon might be obtained after death, 
and to such an audience his words would have an ex- 
ceedinsj fitness, without at all indorsino^ the doctrine of 
probation in the life to come. 

That souls enter upon their reward immediately after 
departing this life is clearly attested in Scripture. 
Thus : " I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, 
Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from. 
henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest 
from their labors; and their works do follow them." 
Rev. xiv, 13. That is, those who die in the Lord are 
blessed cjtt apri, from 7ioio, from this time on. Their 
blessedness begins at death, with an immortality 
beyond. 

The apostle Paul is very explicit in defining the con- 
dition of the saints between death and the judgment. 
He says: " Therefore we are always confident, knowing 
that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent 
from the Lord: . . . we arc confident, I say, and Avilling 
rather to be absent from the body, and to be present 
with the Lord." 2 Cor. v, 6, 8. Similar is another 
passage in testimony, Phil, i, 23 : " For I am in a strait 
betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with 
Christ ; which is far better." In these passages the 



Christ's Care of His Own" Elect. 313 

apostle connects death with "being present with the 
Lord," "being with Christ," that is, in personal presence 
-with Christ, for tlie spiritual presence of Christ he had 
already. But this could not be said if they were going 
only to a department of hades, for Christ is not in 
hades. 

It will be seen from the passages given that hades, in 
the New Testament, always signifies either the grave or 
region of the dead, or the place of future punishment. 
In the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testa- 
ment) it every-where stands for the Hebrew word sheol, 
and signifies grave, deep pit, under icorld; but never 
takes the sense of the abode of the rigliteous. We do 
not say that the ancients did not attach to the words 
the idea of a middle place between heaven and hell, 
into which, in separate apartments, the rigliteous and 
the wicked are detained between death and the finnl 
judgment; but we say that nowhere in the Bible is 
there given such a sense to the words. 

The passage (Eph. i, 10) is supposed to imply "an 
ultimate restoration of salvation of all moral beings." 
The apostle says, "That in the dispensation of the full- 
ness of times he might gather together in one all 
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which 
are in earth ; even in him." 

Observe first, the eschatological phase of the pas- 
sages, or the specific time mentioned ; namely, " the 
completion, or fulfillment of the fixed times, or periods." 
All time is' divided into Messianic epochs, of which the 
gospel epoch is the last. The redemptive epoch, or 
" time," closes the great mediatorial scheme. We are 
living in "the last time." The "fullness of the times " 
the fulfillment, the end or completion, of the gospel 
period. The date, therefore, carries us down to the 
end of human probation and gospel opportunities. 
21 



314 ESCHATOLOGY. 

Observe, secondly, what is affirmed to take place at 
that time, namely, " God shall gather in one [literally, 
tinder one head] the all [who are] in Christ, both which 
are in heaven and which are in earth; even in him." 
This last clause, " even in liim^'^ is simply emphatic of 
what had been already said, to call special attention to 
the solemn import of the statement. It does not affirm 
that all the human race shall be saved, but that all who 
are in Christ, in heaven and on earth, shall at that time 
be gathered into one family or fellowship — an event 
which has never yet been witnessed, and in the nat- 
ure of tilings cannot be realized till at the final con- 
summation. 

The passage (1 Cor. xv, 22) has been taken as a 
promise or declaration that all men will be finally 
saved. It reads, " As in Adam all die, even so in 
Christ shall all be made alive." Now, an ingenious 
author says, *' The ' all ' must be as extensive on the 
one side as on the other," and hence infers a universal 
restitution. This might be if the apostle had not sig- 
nified to the contrary. If the apostle affirmed the res- 
titution of the race with a proviso, and his words are 
quoted and applied without the proviso, there is a 
wrong committed, which, if done with knowledge, is a 
fraud. Now, the words " hv ro) X9^oro), in the Christ," 
are a i^roviso which completely limits the " all" of the 
race to the "all" of a specified class; to wit, the all 
who are "^n Christ.''^ And this is sustained by other 
Scriptures on the final restitution. Christ is the re- 
storer to all who are " in him." There is no restitution 
out of Christ. But the phrase " in Christ " denotes a 
vital spiritual union with him. It is of technical pre- 
cision, expressive of the state of spiritual life in be- 
lievers, as opposed to the spiritual death and condem- 
nation in unbelievers. Examine such passages as 



Ciuiist's Cake of His Owx Elect. 315 

1 Tliess. ii, 14-, 4; iv, 16; Rom. xvi, T ; Gal. i, 22; 
Eph. i, 10; ii, 5; Rev. xiv, 12, 13, and 2 Tim. ii, 10. 
The apostle says of the intensive spiritual import of " in 
Christ,'^ "But now, in Christ Jesus^ ye who some time 
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." 
Eph. ii, 13. And directly bearing on the final restitu- 
tion, he says, " That in the economy of the consumma- 
tion of the appointed times," as just quoted. 

The restrictive force and application of the words 
"m Christ^'' is further given in the fact that the scope 
and limitation of the chapter (1 Cor. xv) is an address 
to the Christians of Corinth. He addresses them as 
"" brethren," " beloved brethren," to whom he had 
"preached the gospel," "which also," he adds, "ye 
have received, and wherein ye stand." Yers. 1, 50. But 
some among them taught " there is no resurrection of 
the dead." Ver. 12. To meet and confute this error 
he directed the whole force of his argument. It was 
resurrectio7i life that became the one engrossing theme. 
It was not whether all men will be saved, but whether 
the Gospel taught a resurrection to eternal life of the 
body, thus restoring the whole man, physical and mental. 
This will appear by giving the distich. Thus : 

"For as in Adnm all die, 

Even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 

The point and scope of the writer in this antithetic 
couplet is the certainty of the resurrection of the body 
to a glorified humanity, and that " in Christ " only is 
this ineffable glory attained. Exegetically the j^assage 
can carry us no farther. Such a resurrection is not 
only to be realized as a fact, in its time, but the order 
of manifestation is given; namely, "Christ the first- 
fruits; afterward t?iey tltat are Chrisfs at his coming. 
Then cometh the end." 1 Cor. xv, 23, 24. The clause, 



316 ESCH ATOLOG Y. 

" They that are Christ's," is restrictive and emphatic. 
They and only they who are Christ's shall " inherit the 
life eternal." 

Again, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted 
him, and given him a name which is above every name: 
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under 
the earth; and that every tongue should confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 
Phil, ii, 9-11. 

The phrase, " under the eartli^'' has been supposed to 
signify the inhabitants of hades^ or the subterranean 
region, being the intermediate state and place of souls 
between death and the final judgment, and that '• it 
must, therefore, mean that all men, not only all men 
who now live, but all w^ho have lived, shall finally be- 
come Christians, and enter into the glory of God." * 
But this is simply an assumption. The word Karaxdoviog 
occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, but etymo- 
logically (from Kara, doionward, and %0wv, the ground), 
it signifies under ground, and literally answers to our 
idea of grave, region of the dead, and does, therefore, 
like its parallel (Rev. v, 8, 13) imply a Hebraic form 
of expression for grave. 

As to the prophetic clause, " Every knee shall bow, 
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to 
the glory of God the Father," it does not prove that 
all men Avill be converted. Men may confess the Lord- 
ship of Christ and the truth of revelation from the 
constraint of conscience. All the facts on this subject 
are clear and convincing. The prophecies speak of 
enemies of God and of Christ as subjecting themselves 
by constraint, not willingl}^ Thus (Psa. ex, l), '' Jeho- 

* Orthodoxy : Its Truths and Errors. By James Freeman Clarke, 
p. 288. 



Christ's Cake of His Owx Elect. 317 

vah said to Adonee [my Lord] sit thou at my right 
hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool," etc. So 
in 1 Cor. xv: "For he must reign till he hath pat all 
enemies under his feet." To put his enemies under his 
feet is not to convert them, is not to treat them as 
friends. The enmity to Christ may remain, but his 
sovereignty and the righteousness of his judgments 
will be confessed. So, Heb. x, 13, "Christ forever sat 
down on the right hand of God : from henceforth ex- 
pecting till his enemies he made liis fooistooV And, 
again, the evil spirit " cried out with a loud voice, say- 
ing, Let us alone; what have we do with thee, thou 
Jesus of Nazareth ? art thou come to destroy us ? I 
know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." Mark 
i, 23, 24 ; Luke iv, 33, 34. Here we have a correct con- 
fession of Christ by an evil spirit, constrained to speak, 
yet at enmity with God. 

The passages wliich have been cited as favoring the 
doctrine of an intermediate place we claim to have 
shown to be inconclusive. In discussing a subject so 
grave, so fundamental, the most conclusive evidence is 
demanded. A few passages of doubtful pertinence 
cannot be admitted as testimony. A few general prin- 
ciples arrayed against the specific legislation of Script- 
ure, and claiming to be older and of higher authority 
than written revelation, we cannot allow. The doctrines 
of holy Scripture are the laws of the moral government 
and the restitution of the human race, and must, like 
all legal documents, be interpreted rigidly according to 
the laws of language. We cannot philosophize; we 
must interpret. If we abandon exegesis, we have no 
hope in human reasoning. 

It is a most suspicious fact that the doctrine of an in- 
termediate place with that of probation after death 
and purgatory are, and ever have been, in the interest 



I 

318 ESCHATOLOGY. }} 

of procrastination. Convince a godless man that, do 
what he will, a new probationary state awaits him in 
the life to come, wherein equal or increased advantages 
for repentance and reformation will be enjoyed, and the 
motive to reform to-day, now, will be swept away, and 
a life of selfish and vicious indulgences inevitably en- 
tailed. Whatever a man of reason and conscience 
might do, the man of lust and appetite would choose 
delay of repentance and a godly life. 



Christ's Order of the New Creation. 319 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

CHRIST'S ORDER OF THE XEW CREATION. 

Physical Restitution Consu in mated in the Life to Come — Conflagration 
of the Earth, Preparatory of the "New Creation." 

Ix treating tlie subject of tLe restitution as consum- 
mated in the life to come, ^ye are limited to two general 
topics — the physical body of the redeemed, and the 
physical condition as to the place or planetary orb they 
are to inhabit. The former leads to the great doctrine 
of the resurrection, which has already been treated. 
The latter is nov/ to give what information the books 
of Revelation and holy Scripture afford. We will fii'st 
consider what is said concerning the change to be 
wrought upon the world we live in. 

It will not be denied by those who believe in the inspira- 
tion of holy Scripture that this world has come under a 
curse for man's disobedience. The original sentence of 
the Judge stands thus: "And unto Adam he said, . . . 
cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou 
eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles 
shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the 
herb of the field : in the sweat of thy face shalt thou 
eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of 
it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust 
shalt thou return." Gen. iii, 17-19. The language of 
the projjhet reproduces that of the original sentence: 
" The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world lan- 
guisheth and fadeth away. . . . The earth also is de- 
filed under the inhabitants thereof; because they have 
transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken 



320 ESCHATOLOGY. 

the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse de- 
voured the earth, and tliey that dwell therein are deso- 
late: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, 
and few men left." Isa. xxiv, 4-6. And thus, also, the 
apostle: "For the earnest expectation of the creation 
waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. For the 
creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own wiil, but 
by reason of liini who subjected it, in hope that the cre- 
ation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage 
of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the chil- 
dren of God. For we know that the whole creation 
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 
And not only so, but ourselves also, Avhich have the 
first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan with- 
in ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the re- 
demption of our body." Rom. viii, 19-23. (See new 
version of New Testament, viii, 22.) "And thy wrath 
is come, . . . that thou shouldest destroy ther>% that 
destroy the earth.^'' Rev. x, 17, 18. The earth is as one 
vast mausoleum; as one sepulchral monument of the 
oppressions, violence, wars, corruptions, sufferings, and 
w^rong committed by her inhabitants and her ruling 
powers. The memorials of innocent blood, of una- 
venged w^rongs, of covered iniquity, are every-where, 
in all nations and places. Are these things to continue 
without end ? Will not God visit the earth for all this ? 
Shall not he, " who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, 
and cannot look on iniquity" (Ilab. i, 13), do unto the 
earth as he did to Sodom and the world before the flood ? 
Can complete restitution be accomplished without this ? 
It is due to the Church and to the Redeemer, who have 
suffered in the world-wide conflict with the pagan and 
antichristian powers, to efface tlie memorials of sinful 
doing. What better can be done to express the divine 
abhorrence of these wrongs than to purge the earth 



Ciihist's Order of the Xeav Creation. 321 

by lire, and to refit it for the abode of innocence and 
holiness ? The words of the Lord must settle it. Hear 
the awful sentence from the apostle Peter: 

"This second epistle, beloved, I now Avrite unto you; 
in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of 
remembrance: that ye may be mindful of the Avords 
which were spoken before by the lioly prophets, and 
of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord 
and Saviour: knowing this first, that there shall come 
in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 
and saying. Where is the promise of his coming? for 
since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they 
were from the beginning of the creation. For this they 
willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the 
heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the 
water and in the water: whereby the world that then 
was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the 
heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same 
word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the 
day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. . . . 

"But the d:iy of the Lord will come as a thief in the 
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with 
a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall 
be burned u}?. Seeing then that all these things shall 
be dissolved, what manner of j^ersons ought ye to be 
in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and 
hasting unto [earnestly desiring] the coming of the day 
of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dis- 
solved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ? 
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new 
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- 
ness." 2 Pet. iii, 1-13. 

This wonderful passage covers the whole subject. 
It should be specially observed that in verse 2 it is as- 



322 ESCHATOLOGY. 

serted that the doctrines herein taught were in accord 
with those " which were spoken before by the holy- 
prophets, and by the apostles of the Lord and Snviour." 
Peter, therefore, was indorsed by the prophets and the 
whole college of apostles. It will also be seen that 
this destruction of the world by fire is dated at the 
" coming " of Christ, and the " day of judgment," and 
the "perdition of ungodly men." Ver. 7. The ''heav- 
ens," here renovated by fire, are the atmosphere, or the 
region of the clouds, as the word often denotes ; and 
the plural (heavens) is often taken in the singular, as 
Matt, iii, 2, " Kingdom of heaven ; " Greek, " kingdom 
of heaveiisy When the apostle says, " We look for a 
new heaven and a new earth^^ he uses the language of 
faith, of expectation, and desire. The saints have an 
individual inheritance in that great event, which they 
are to " hasten unto," or " earnestly desired * This is 
further indicated when he deduces the practical sequence 
" Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, 
what manner of persons ought we to be, iu all holy 
conversation and godliness ? " etc. This practical ap- 
plication evinces the highest assurance of faith in the 
literality of the doctrines advanced, and furnishes the 
loftiest motives to a godly life. 

As to the present delay of these awful, yet glorious, 
scenes, it is for the salvation of men, and not from 
slackness or indifference. "Account," he says, " that 
the long:: sufferinsf of our Lord is salvation." And he 
asserts his perfect accord with Paul in these doctrines 

* On G-evdo^ translated, earnestly desiring, see Septuagint on Isa. 
xvi, 1 2, and MacKnight, and Parkhurst on the word, and the sources 
they quote. Also the New Version. Eobinson says, " With an ac- 
cusative the word means, To hasten after any thing, to avmit with 
eager desire,'''' and quotes 2 Pet. iii, 12, as an example. See his Lexi- 
con on the word. This exactly meets the case. 



Cheist's Oeder of the New Creatiox. 323 

by saying: "Even as onr beloved brother Paul also 
according to the Avisdom given unto him hath written 
unto you ; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them 
of these things." 2 Pet. iii, 15, 16. 

The opposers of the doctrine of the destruction of 
the world by fire were "scoffers, walking after their 
own lusts," and assuming tliat the coming of Christ 
must be heralded by signs in the earth and heavens, 
and should not be delayed. Yer. 3. This was an old 
ground taken by unbelievers, and enemies of Christ, 
but it is not a subject with which physical nature or 
phenomenal nature has any connection. It is all super- 
natural, totally bej^ond the legitimate sphere of science 
or philosophy. It is not competent for science to affirm 
or deny any thing relating to the fact, the time, the 
circumstances of the coming of Christ, the judgment, 
or the final outcome of the mediatorial government. 
He who made all things can control all things. The 
question is not one of philosophy, but of power. God has 
spoken; can he perform? The Creator has not aban- 
doned his right and j^urpose to make all things subject 
to moral government, either by precept or penalty. 
The voice of nature gives no oracle on final destiny. 
Kevelation alone lifts the curtain upon the scenes of 
the dread " beyond," and Christ alone unfolds its myster- 
ies. He alone has the " keys of death, and of hades." 
Rev. i, 18. The credibility of divine revelation rests 
securely upon its own foundation. Moral lavv^s and 
the laws of material nature present two totally diverse 
spheres of thought. Christ says his coming will be 
sudden and without warning. 



324 ESCHATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

CHRIST'S ORDER OF THE NEW CREATION.— Continued. 
The Marriage of the Lamb — New Jerusalem. 

Iisr the previous chapter we have given us by Peter, 
indorsed by the entire body of the apostles, the literal 
conflagration of the earth and atmosphere, in the last 
days, as a method of expurgation of the marks of sin 
and violence, and as asserting both the possibility and 
pledge of such an event. If tbe deluge in the days of 
Noah was historic and literal, so also will be the con- 
flagration. If the former effaced from the earth the 
marks and memorials of the corrupt and violent doings 
of the people and their ruler^i, so also shall the fire 
purge away the footprints of the abominations of the 
latter. It was not merely the corrupt constitution and 
form of society that was to be destroyed, but a renova- 
tion of the mundane system itself. It was not an anni- 
hilation, but a purification, and a new and perfect 
adaptation to a higher and holier state of being. Thus 
Christ's first and second advents will prove to have ac- 
complished the two stages of the mighty work of res- 
titution — the earthly and the heavenly, the probation- 
ary and the consummation, or state of the "new crea- 
tion." And thus he becomes the "Alpha and Omega, 
the beginning and the ending." Rev. i, 8; xxi, 6. 

The date of this new creation, it will be remembered, 
is after the millennium, after the resurrection, after the 
judgment-day, after the termination of human proba- 
tion, into the eternal and unchangeable state. 

The further notices of the new creation are as fol- 



Christ's Okdek of the Xew CrExVTion. 325 

lows : "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for 
the first heaven and the first earth were passed awa}^; 
and there was no more sea, . . . And I heard a great 
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of 
God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they 
shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, 
and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neith- 
er sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more 
pain : for the former things are passed away. And he 
that sat npon the throne said, Behold, I make all things 
new. And he said unto me. Write: for these words 
are true and faithful. And he said unto me. It is done. 
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, 
the first and the last." Rev. xxi, 1-5; xxii, 13. 

The record of chapters xxi and xxii is wholly en- 
grossed with the rewards of the life everlasting. The lan- 
guage is suitable to no other subject or condition, and 
the chronological order places it there. The emphatic 
words, '•'■It is done,^^ (ver. 6) declare the prophetic 
record of this great and final scheme of revelation to 
be now completed. This sense is in harmony with the 
scope, and the connection. In chapter xvi, 17, the 
same word occurs, which we must there connect with 
chapter x, 7, where it was promised that, in the epoch of 
the seventh trumpet, " the mystery of God should be 
finished," which promise, we have already seen, has 
been fulfilled. 

In verse 1 it is said " the first [or former] heaven, 
and the first [or former] earth were passed away." 
Does this "passing away" possibly refer to chapter xx, 
11, where it is said, " The earth and the heavens fled 
away " from the face of Him that sat on the throne ? 
Might not the sudden disappearance of the old mun- 
dane system, in the conflagration already noticed, find 



326 ESCHATOLOGY. 

its explanation here? And might not "he that sat 
upon the throne" (ver. 5), who procLaimed, "Behold, I 
make all things new," be the same as he who in chapter 
XX, 11, "sat on the great white throne ? " And if so, 
do Ave not find a glimmer of light as to when, or at 
wdiat moment, in the great drama the change occurred, 
when all things became new ? Certainly the hypothe- 
sis is possible. 

In verse 3 the prophet heard a great voice saying, 
" The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell 
with them," etc. The " tabernacle of God " among the 
Jews was the symbol of the divine presence, and his 
abiding presence is the pledge of all blessing. In the 
foreground of the picture here given of heaven is God's 
abiding presence in person and fellowship, as when he 
walked or talked with the first pair in Eden, before the 
first transgression. 

It is said of the new creation that in it " there was 
no more sea." This is to be taken figuratively. In 
symbolic language a sea represents a mass, or multi- 
tude, or nationality of people ; especially a people be- 
yond the bounds of the Church; that is, a heathen or 
uncovenanted nation. Thus (Rev xii, 1), " I saw a 
beast rise out of the se«." That is, he saw a new gov- 
ernment rise out of the commotions of the people. 
So also it is said, " Which stilleth the noise of the 
seas, the noise of their toaves, and the tumult of the 
people.'''' Psa. Ixv, 7. The proj^het saw in his vision 
that in the new creation there was no " sea " — no body 
of people who were agitable and turbulent, and thereby 
the source of wrongs and violence and oppression. 
This statement is the first particular notice given of the 
elements and characteristic features of the new crea- 
tion. It had no organized nationality, or people, who 
could foment public commotion and misrule like the 



Christ's Order, of the New Creation. 327 

angiy waves of the sea. All were in peace, with an 
assured perpetuation of safety. 

After an. inexpressibly tender description of the 
blessedness of the heavenly state (ver. 3-5), the angel 
nuncio commands, "Write: for these words are true 
and faithful." Ver. 5. " Truth;' says Dr. A. Clarke, 
"refers to the ^:?rOi'?iwe of these chuugeSy /ait/>ftdness to 
t\\Q fulfillment of these promises." The specific order to 
" write " and to asseverate the truth and faithfulness of 
what had been said, indicates the special importance 
and literal accuracy of the matter revealed, and the 
solemnity in which it should be received. 

Two subjects, or two symbols of the same subject, 
present themselves here; to wit, "The marriage of the 
Lamb" and the "new Jerusalem." The former — the 
marriage of the Lamb — is first mentioned in chapter xix, 
T-9, in the near opening of the millennium, but we have 
reserved it to be noticed in this connection, there being 
nothing to forbid it. It is thus given in chapters xix, 6-9, 
and XX i, 2, 9: 

" And I heard as it were the voice of a great multi- 
tude, and as the A^oice of many waters, and as the voice 
of mighty thunderings, saying, Allelulia: for the Lord 
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, 
and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb 
is come, and his wife hath made herself read}^ And 
to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine 
linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the right- 
eousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, 
Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage 
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me. These are 
the true sayings of God." And later on it is recorded, 
*' And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, com- 
ing down from God out of heaven, pre])ared as a bride 
adorned for her husband." Rev. xxi, 2, and ver. 9 : 



328 ESCHATOLOGY. 

"And there came unto me one of the seven angels 
. . . sa^dng, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, 
the Lamb's wife." 

The figure of marriage between God and his people 
was familiar to Old Testament prophets. Thus Isa. liv, 5 : 
"Thy Maker is thine husband; The Lord of hosts is his 
name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel." 
And in the New Testament the apostle says: "Fori 
am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have 
espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as 
a chaste virgin to Christ." 2 Cor. xi, 2. It is not neces- 
sary to enlarge on the varied use of Scripture imagery 
which has its root in the marriage relation, but the 
common import of the figure is that of oneness of the 
parties, of honor, and of purity and fidelity of affection. 

If we would attain to any just appreciation of the 
import of the allusion to this ceremony at this juncture 
of time, we must know what relation the Church now 
held to the progress of the Gospel, and to the great 
antichristian powers of the earth, as unfolded in the 
wondrous chain of prophecy. It was this relation that 
justified and dictated the strong and beautiful figure of 
the marriage of Christ with his Church: for " Christ also 
loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might 
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the 
word, that he might present it to himself a glorious 
church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; 
but that it should be holy and without blemish." Eph. v, 
25-27. Thus also their great persecutor through the 
dark ages — years of antichrist — was denominated " the 
accuser of our brethren, . . . which accused them before 
our God day and night." Chap, xii, 10. 

Consider we, then, that the faithful Church had now 
grappled with antichrist and his servile accomplices 
during the " time, times, and half a time," or twelve 



Christ's Ordeii of the New Creation, 329 

hundred and sixty years (Rev. xii, 14), and had over- 
come " by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their 
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the 
death." Rev. xii, 11. During these long and weary cen- 
turies the ''beast "and "dragon" and "false prophet," 
or, otherwise, the " great harlot," " Babylon the Great, 
the mother of harlots," held sway, and the true Church, 
that is, the faithful in all times and places, were de- 
spised, persecuted, victims of false accusation, bearing 
their testimony for Jesus at the peril of life, and often 
the loss of all things. False accusation was at the 
ground of all their proceedings. Thus, the Lord of life 
and glory they first accused of blasphemy, and then 
condemned to death as a blasphemer. So it was with 
the disciples. They were first accused of " heresy," and 
then condemned to the stake. Thus the true Church 
was first made odious by false accusation, and then 
condemned to torture and death. 

But, the judgments of G-od and the faithful witnesses 
of his Church concurrently operating, at last the mon- 
strous system of corruption and oppression fell, and the 
golden age dawned upon the world. The millennium 
follows upon the- downfall of " great Babylon," and it 
is just here, also, that the " marriage of the Lamb " is 
introduced. Marriage, by the consent of mankind, is 
an occasion of joy, and honorable tokens of gratulation. 
The symbolic marriage denotes purity, fidelity, and the 
complete union of Christ and his Church. The Church 
had been scandalized, hated, despised, and persecuted 
by the nations, because she had stood firm and faithful 
in her betrothment to Christ (mentioned chapter xix, 
7-9), while the hostile nations were seduced by the 
" false prophet " to play the harlot, and to " give their 
power and strength unto the beast," and had " made war 
with the Lamb, and the Lamb had overcome them: for 
22 



330 ESCIIATOLOGY. 

he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that 
are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." 
Rev. xvii, 13, 14. 

The marriage is public. Before the universe the 
nuptial bond is ratified. It is for the honor both of 
Christ and the Church; the former to show that he 
had not forsaken his spouse in the years of her oppres- 
sion, the latter to witness that she had not been unfaith- 
ful to her Lord. The universe of men and angels will 
now witness that she that had been calumniated and 
despised, by those who had, with infinite hj^pocrisy, 
professed to believe they were doing God service by 
persecuting his faithful Church, is the beloved of Christ, 
and precious as the jewelry of his crown. " And they 
shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when 
I make up my jewels." Mai. iii, 17. 

From a comparison of Rev. xix, 7, with chapter xxi, 2, 
it would appear that on two occasions the Church is 
publicly manifested as the bride of the Lamb; the first 
at the opening of the millennium, as an announcement 
soon to be fulfilled (xix, 7), and the second after the 
millennium — after the resurrection, after the judgment 
day — in the distribution of final rewards, as one of 
the acts of public vindication and reward. Chap, xxi, 
2, 7. The import of the marriage has the force of an 
eternal and unchangeable fiat, a bond never to be broken, 
that declares the union of Christ and his redeemed and 
hallowed Church to be indissoluble and for ever. The 
scene transcends description. Christ will appear in his 
unveiled glory, " the glory which he had with the 
Father before the w^orld was " (John xvii, 5), and 
" every eye shall see him, and they also wdiich pierced 
him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of 
him. Even so. Amen." Rev. i, 7. 

As to the Church (the bride), the days of her mourn- 



Christ's Order of the New Creation. 331 

ing are ended. Emphatically her Lord and Maker has 
become her protector, her husband. "And he said unto 
me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the 
marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, 
These are the true sayings of God." Rev. xix, 7, 9. 

What has been already quoted from chapter xix, 7-9, 
we have assumed is an announcement of what is soon to 
take place, but it leaves the Church in the opening of 
its millennial glory, in its historic connections and sur- 
roundings, charged with the invitations of the divine 
commission: "The Spirit and the bride (Church) say, 
Come" (chap, xxii, 17), and the encouragement, "Blessed 
are they which are called unto the marriage supper of 
the Lamb." Chap, xix, 9. The world is at peace, the 
antichristian powers are overthrown, satan is bound, 
the " King of kings, and Lord of lords " leads forth his 
triumphant hosts — it is heaven begun. We read of no 
persecutions, no apostates thereafter, though all are not 
converted. Read carefully Rev. xix, and xx, 1-4. We 
must preserve here the chronological order of events. 

But now a new scene opens in this gorgeous drama. 
It is thus given: "And I John saw the holy city, new 
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, pre- 
pared as a bride adorned for her husband. . . . And he 
[the angel] carried me away in the spirit to a great and 
high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy 
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having 
the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone 
most precious, even as a jasper stone, clear as crystal." 
Rev. xxi, 2, 10, 11. 

The scene in which the dramatic vision lay was in 
the "new heaven and new earth: for the lirst heaven 
and the first earth were passed away. . . . And he that 
sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." 
Yer. 1, 5. All the literal exj^lanations of the vision 



332 ESCHATOLOGY. 

determine the date of it to be after the final judgment 
day, and the specific characteristics to belong to the 
final rewards. As to the symbol of the new or heav- 
enly Jerusalem, the apostle Paul calls it " the Jerusalem 
which is above, which is our mother." Gal. iv^ 26. This 
" new Jerusalem," the " holy city," unquestionably 
represents the true and faithful and spiritual society or 
Church of God. And thus it is explained (Rev. iii, 12), 
*' Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the tem- 
ple of my God, and he shall go no more out : and I will 
write upon him the name of my God, and the name of 
the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which 
Cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will 
write upon him my new name." 

Both here and in chap, xxi, 2, the new Jerusalem is 
represented as " coming down from God out of heaven." j 

All that the world knows of things most precious 
and costly, all that is most tasteful, pure, elegant, and 
grand, in material or architecture, in art or nature, is 
here brought together and worked into a gorgeous 
picture, to illustrate the beauty and grandeur of that 
heavenly Jerusalem. The i^icture of the holy city ex- 
tends throughout chapters xxi and xxii, 1-6. Who 
shall define and describe the mystery and glory of this 
wondrous vision ? From all the light afforded it would 
seem that the Holy Spirit would describe the glorified 
Church in its twofold state ; namely, its spiritual char- 
acter and its external forms and condition. Both these 
elements enter fully into chapters xxi and xxii. It is 
remarkable that, in describing the glory of the full re- 
ward of the Church, a little earlier than the date of the 
Apocalypse, John could only say, " It doth not yet ap- 
pear what we shall be." 



The Typk of Christ's Restitutiox. 333 



CHAPTER XXYI. 

THE LITERALITY AXD RDEXIC TYPE OF CHRIST'S 
RESTITUTIOK 

There are no sufficiently revealed data to authorize 
a positive opinion as to what point of time, in the un- 
folding drama, the destruction of the old mundane sys- 
tem will take place ; but what is written assures us 
that it will not occur till after the millennium, and 
after the battle of Gog and Magog. That is, it will 
not be till the earth has ceased to be inhabited, and the 
final judgment shall sit. There is a passage which 
seems to favor the thought that it will be simultaneous 
Avdth the summons to the final judgment. The passage 
is thus given: "And I saw a great white throne, and 
him that sat on it, from whose face the eartli and the 
heaven fled away ; and there was found no place for 
them." Rev. xx, 11. Unquestionably this is a final 
judgment scene, embracing verses 11-15. Nothing 
equals it in awful grandeur save Matt, xxv, 31-46. 
The "sixth seal" (Rev. vi, 12-17) is not its parallel, 
and its imagery is of quite a different type. (See it in 
its place.) The final judgment is often alluded to in 
the New Testament, but the judgment sce?ie is but par- 
tially attempted. Who but Christ, who has " the keys 
of death and of Hades," can unfold the awful mystery ? 
AVe tread cautiously, on holy ground. 

We would reverently suggest whether this disap- 
pearance of the " earth's atmosphere," or " earth and 
the heaven," might not be intended to corroborate and 
fulfill the more detailed and specific account given by 



334 ESCHATOLOGY. 

the apostle Peter in liis second epistle, chapter iii, of 
the world's conflagration. This would meet the fitness 
of time. It would date at the final judgment, and the 
calling away of the saints, who " shall be caught up 
together in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and 
so shall they be ever with the Lord." 1 Thess. iv, 17. 
And the language does not contradict it. 

Immediately after this, and next in order, the apostle 
says, "I saw a new heaven and a neio earth: for the 
first heaven and tJie first earth were passed away; and 
there was no more sea," or unconverted and hostile 
people. Rev. xxi, 1. This is a strong corroboration of 
the hypothesis given. So also is the language of Peter: 
" Looking for and hasting unto \earnestlij desiring'] the 
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being 
on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt 
with fervent heat. ISTevertheless loe, according to his 
2oromise, look for new heavens and a neio earthy wherein 
divelleth righteousness.'^'' 2 Pet. iii, 12, 13. The time for 
tliis renovation by fire is at " the coming of the day of 
God," the same as the second coming of Christ. The 
ultimate effect sought was the new heaven and earth, 
" wherein dwelleth righteousness." 

Again, John says : " And he that sat upon the throne 
(that is, he that is mentioned in chapter xx, 11) said, 
Hehold^ I make all things neio. And he said unto me. 
Write : for these Avords are true and faithful. And he 
said unto me. It is done.'''' Rev. xxi, 5, 6. The same divine 
j^erson further speaks : " Seal not the sayings of the 
pro23ehcy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that 
is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, 
let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him 
be righteous still : and he that is holy, let him be holy 
still." Rev. xxii, 10, 12. 

These are words of destiny, and clearly assert the 



The Type of Christ's Restitutioj^". 335 

end of probation to the race. These words, " It is 
done,'''' are profoundly awful. They declare the pro- 
phetic record of this great and final scheme of revela- 
tion, with the total work of redemption, to be now fin- 
ished, and the destinies of mankind unalterably fixed. 
As the world's atonement was announced upon the 
cross by the Son of God, " It is finishecV (John xix, 30), 
so now the full work of redemption, with its final ter- 
minus, is declared in the same words, and by the same 
authority. We must take chapter xxii, 11, as a repeti- 
tion and enlargement of this most solemn announce- 
ment, " It is done.'''' Chap, xxi, 6. As to the statement, 
" And there was no more sea," we may remark that, in 
symbolic language, "sea" denotes multitudes of peo- 
ple, especially peoi)le in a state of war or revolution. 
An agitated mass of people. But those are now "de- 
stroyed who destroyed the earth." Rev. xi, 18. We 
have already given the meaning of this symbol. 

The reader will keep in mind that we are now speak- 
ing of the restitution, the restoring things to their 
primeval state. This is the object and purpose of re- 
demption. The last tv/o chapters of Revelation are 
devoted exclusively to this subject. We are here led 
to consider both the character and condition of the re- 
deemed and the extent and limitation of the resti- 
tution. 

We woidd not speculate upon themes and possibili- 
ties left solely to the realm of direct revelation, but the 
attention is often referred by the sacred writers to the 
earth as the future prepared abode of the righteous, 
and as their "new heaven and new earth." We af- 
firm nothing which they have not affirmed ; what seems 
to us probable we aim to treat as such. And still the 
whole array of restitutionary process would seem to 
indicate the literality of this "new heaven and new 



336 EsCHATaLOGY. 

earth," and to have a history in the post-millennial age. 
What else can we make of the " ovgavov aaivov nal yrjv 
Kacv7]v^ a new heaven and a new earth f " Plainly 
fcatvov, neic, must be construed radically, and substan- 
tively. 

It may not flatter the extravagant anticipations of 
many, as to the future abode of the blessed, to call at- 
tention to the frequent references of this planetary orb, 
as possibly serving a part of the restitutionary demand. 
The language runs thus : " Behold I make all things 
new;" "The former things are passed away;" "I saw 
a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and 
the first earth had passed away;" "The earth and the 
heaven fled away; and there was found no place for 
them ;" " But the heavens and the earth which are 
now, by the same word, are kept in store, reserved 
unto fire against the judgment and perdition of un- 
godly men;" "Seeing then that all things shall be 
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be, in 
all holy conversation and godliness," etc. " But the 
end of all things is at hand ;" " So shall it be in the 
end of this world," or dispensation. 

Have not these and such like Scriptures a significance 
— a meaning equal to the language and metaphors em- 
ployed — a meaning "ready to be revealed at the last 
time ? " And can restitution be adequate with less than 
this? Emphatically, and in allusion to Gen. iii, 17 — 
*' Cursed is the ground for thy sake " — is it declared of 
the earth, "And there shall be no more curse." Rev. 
xxii, 3. The closing chapters of the Apocalypse, it 
must be admitted, fully teach the restitution of the 
earth and atmosphere, as co-etaneous with the restitu- 
tion of the righteous. 

We have spoken mostly in general terms, but, to be 
more specific, wo remark, three elements seem to limit 



The Type of Christ's Restitutiox. 337 

and complete the final restitution; namely, 1, The phys- 
ical constitution of the righteous; 2, the paradisaical 
type of their place of abode; 3, the spiritual and holy 
character of tlie restitution. 

First, the physical condition of those who are finally 
saved is indicated in such language as the following: 
" God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and 
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former 
things are passed away. . . . And there shall be no night 
there ; and they need no candle, neither light of the 
sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall 
reign for ever and ever." Rev. xxi, 4, and xxii, 5. 

Secondly, the paradisaical type of their place of 
abode. The reference, Rev. xxii, 1, "And he showed 
me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, pro- 
ceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb," 
must either be to the river Gihon, in the Garden of 
Eden (Gen. ii, 13), or to the vision of Ezekiel (chap, 
xlvii, 1), laid in the temple facing the east. He says : 
"He brought me again unto the door of the house 
[temple] ; and, behold, Avaters issued out from under the 
threshold of the house [temple] eastward: for the fore- 
front of the house stood toward the east, nnd the waters 
came down from under^ from the right side [east] of 
the house, at the south side of the cdtar^ That is, the 
course of the river is first south, then east under the 
temple area, then south-east to the Dead Sea; meanwhile 
it had become " a river that could not be passed over," 
and wherever it went it restored both vegetable and 
animal life in great abundance. Ver. 5. "And by the 
river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that 
side, shall grow all trees for meat [food], whose leaf 
shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be con- 
sumed.'' Yer. 12. Both Ezekiel and John describe 



338 ESCHATOLOGY. 

the same phenomena, namely, the flowing of a copious 
stream or river eastward, under the temple, under the 
"holy of holies," from under ''the throne of God," 
and then, taking a direction southward into the 
desert, fertilized the obstinate desert wherever it went. 
The further vision of the prophet Zechariah is simi- 
lar and corroborative: "And it shall be in that day, 
that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half 
of them toward the former sea [Eastern Sea, or Dead 
Sea], and half of them toward the hinder sea 
[Western Sea, or Mediterranean]: in summer and in 
winter shall it be." Zech. xiv, 8. The fundamental 
idea of this symbolic language is its life-giving power, 
as perennial water to a thirsty land, emanating from the 
throne of God. So the psalmist speaks: "There is a 
river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of 
God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most 
High." Psa. xlvi, 4. Also, Isaiah speaks of it : " This 
people ref useth the waters of Shiloah that go softly." 
Isa. viii, 6. The same also is probably referred to in 
2 Kings XX, 20: And Hezekiah "made a pool, and a 
conduit, and brought water into the city." All indica- 
tions harmonize in the supposition that the Shiloh of 
Hezekiah is referred to, which modern discovery iden- 
tifies to be the subterranean, perennial flow heading 
near the Damascus gate and running south till, opposite 
midway of the temple arena, it turns eastward to the 
ancient temple site, supplying the mysterious waters 
under the rock es-Sukrah, thence southward to the 
great el-Aksa pool, thence still underground to the vir- 
gin pool and the pool of Siloam, and thence south-east- 
erly to the Dead Sea. It is remarkable that the course 
of this wondrous stream or river passes directly under 
the ancient temple, under the " holy of holies," ^vhere, 
between the cherubim, was " the throne of God," an- 



The Type of Christ's Restitutiox. 339 

swering, so far as the import of symbols is concerned, 
to the "pure river of the water of life, clear as crys- 
tal, 2^i'<^t;eeding ont of the throne of God and of the 
Lamb," of John the revelator, or, as Ezek. xlvii, 1, has it, 
" from under the threshold of the house, [temple] east- 
ward." Zechariah has it, "In that day living waters 
[waters of life] shall go out from Jerusalem,^'' etc. Zech. 
xiv, 8. 

It is evident that the passage of Rev. xxii, 1, is bor- 
rowed from the Old Testament symbolism, and it seems 
probable that the flow of living waters from under the 
throne is explained as above to denote that now, in the 
great restitution, life prevails where death reigned 

before. 

*' There is a stream whose gentle flow 
I Supplies the city of our God ; 

Life, love, and joy, still gliding through, 
And watering our divine abode," 

Milton calls it : 

"Siloa's brook that flowed 
Fust by the oracle of God."* 

"In relation to all the inhabitants of the new Jerusa- 
lem," says a cautious scholar, "the abundance and inex- 
haustible fund of their liappiness is described in Rev. 
xxii, 1, by their having a river of life, clear as crystal, 
proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 
As the first paradise is represented by a river that went 
out of Eden to water the country, and as Ezekiel, in 
his prophetic vision of a new city and temple, repre- 
sents water in great plenty flowing from the house or 
temple, so it is here. Water being necessary to the 
support of life, contributing to refreshment, ornament, 
and delight, is eloquently made a figure to express the 

*Seo note on Psa. xlvi, 4, in my commentary on Psalms. 



340 ESCHATOLOGY. 

glorious and liappy immortality of all true Christians 
in the heavenly state." * 

As the rivers of Eden (Gen. ii, 10) were "for water- 
ing the garden," giving life, freshness, and beauty to 
all, it became a suitable symbol for denoting the state 
of the saints in the new creation. The figure of a 
river " proceeding out of the throne of God " is also 
explained. 

The physical condition of the righteous in the "new 
creation," or restitution, continues with imposing im- 
agery, and the primeval Eden is richly thrown upon the 
scene. The symbolic character of the language must 
not, for a moment, be overlooked. The revelator tlms 
speaks: "In the midst of the street [or hroad ivay\ of it, 
and on either side of the river, was there the tree of 
life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded 
her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree Avere 
for the healing of the nations." Chap, xxii, 2. 

The " street," or hroad way^ refers to the city in chap- 
ter xxi. The " tree of life " refers us directly to the 
scene in Eden. Gen. iii, 22. The- narrative shows that 
man's physical immortality, his exemption from natural 
death, by what cause or on what principle is not given, 
depended on the fact of his access to the tree of life; 
hence, restoring the " right to the tree of life " is re- 
storing the right " to enter in through the gates into 
the city." Ver. 14. These are restituted rights, restored 
and warranted by gospel authority. In the same verse 
it is said that " the leaves of the tree [of life] were for 
the healing of the nations." The language is simply 
equal to the restoration of the tree of life, already men- 
tioned. In verse 3 we have a further assurance of 
restitution in reversing the sentence of the " curse " 

"^ Symbolical Did., by Daubuz, Yitringa, and others; edited by 
Thomas Werays. 



The Type of Christ's Restitution. 341 

mentioned in Gen. iii, 17, thus obliterating the last form 
and fact of the punishment of transgression, and re- 
storing all things to their pristine glorj^ 

In chap, xxi, 4, 5, the external condition of the saints 
is thus given: "And God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any 
more pain : for the former things are passed away. 
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make 
all things new. And he said unto me. Write: for these 
words are true and faithful." 

But paradise would be but j^artially restored — re- 
stored only in its secondary and lesser attractions — if 
left here. The essence of the eternal glory — the crown- 
ing excellence of the heavenly state — is the soul's 
communion and fellowship with God. " Partnkers of 
the divine nature," or moral excellence, says Peter; and, 
as John says, "We shall be like him; for we shall see 
him as he is." 2 Pet. i, 4; 1 John iii, 2. Participation 
in the divine moral imao-e and excellence is the true 
"fountain of life." Herein is realized the ultimate end 
of our being, the quality and summit of our perfection. 

Viewed in its totality, as an organized body, the true 
Church universal is compared, in the twenty-first chap- 
ter, to the "new Jerusalem coming down from God out 
of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her hus- 
band." The spiritual, personal, visible presence of God 
with his people is thus given: "And I heard a great 
voice out of heaven saying. Behold, the tabernacle of 
God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they 
shall be his people, and God himself shall be Avith them, 
and be their God. ... He that overcometh shall inherit 
all things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 
. . . And I saw no temple therein [in the new Jerusalem] : 
for the Lord God Almio^htv and the Lamb are the tem- 



342 ESCHATOLOGY. 

pie of it. And tlie city had no need of tlie sun, neither 
of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did 
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the 
nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light 
of it. . . . And there shall in no wi^e enter into it any 
thing that defileth, neither whatsoever Avorketh abom- 
ination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in 
the Lamb's book of life. . . . And there shall be no more 
curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in 
it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall 
see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 
And there shall be no night there ; and they need no 
candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth 
them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." 
Rev. xxi, 2, 3, 7, 22-24, 27; xxii, 3-5. 

It is impossible to mistake the transcendent holiness 
and happiness of the saints in their new abode, in the 
personal presence of God and the Lamb. The language 
covers the whole subject. The literal and personal 
dwelling Avith God and Christ is fully asseited. It was 
heaven before, but now in greater fullness. With 
resurrected bodies and the final rewards bestowed, their 
joys are complete. This is heaven in its fullness. The 
symbols cannot be mistaken. Nothing less can meet 
the restoration. We must accept it in toto, or cast it 
aside as a myth and a fraud. The restitution is as ex- 
tensive as the reconciliation. " But the fearful, and 
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and 
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, 
shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire 
and brimstone: which is the second death." Chap, xxi, 8. 



A Spiritual Change Required. 343 



CHAPTER XXYIT. 

A SPIRITUAL CHAXGE REQUIRED. 

Christ provides for and requires a spiritual change bj the Holy 
Spirit as the ethical part of the restitution required. 

The liglit in which the ultimate achievements of the 
Gospel of Christ are reviewed is, as already stated, that 
of a divine restitution, or new creation — the restoring 
things to their primitive state. The system of re- 
demption is a scheme, or plan, by the provisions of 
which God can be just in pardoning sin and in reinstat- 
ing the offender, now penitent and submissive, in all the 
immunities of law and privilege forfeited by sin. The 
moral relations of our race to God and moral govern- 
ment are hereby restored, and the disrupted purposes 
of God (we speak as a man) in his creation resumed, 
conditioned only by acceptance of the Gospel plan. In 
no other sense could it be called by the emphatic Avord 
a redemption ; for a redemption imj^lies a forfeiture, 
a ransom price, and a restoration. The restitution 
sought and promised is twofold; namely, that which we 
are to experience in this life and that which is in reserve 
for the life which is to come; and, taken into one view, 
it comprehends the most exalted state of our nature, in 
respect of both character and condition, conceivable. 
Our Saviour speaks of it thus: "In the regeneration, 
Avhen the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his 
glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the 
twelve tribes of Israel," and denominates it to be " i/i 
the regeneration^'' which is the same as " a new crea- 
tion," or a restitution. Matt, xix, 23. 



344 EsCHATOLOGY. 

In treating the subject we first speak of that part of 
the restitution which is to be experienced in this life. 
The very notion of a restitution, as applied to our race, 
supposes, as we have said, a primeval condition of hap- 
piness from which man by transgression has fallen. 
The end or design of God in creation was essential 
goodness, and that goodness must be realized by the 
creature only in fellowship with the Creator. Moral 
law was the exponent and standard of the good, and 
defined the lines by wdiicli man should achieve the ends 
of his creation, as is expressly stated in Scripture. It 
is that which God wills or chooses for man. This, in 
their worship, the heavenly beings recognize and con- 
fess. Thus: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive 
glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all 
things, and for thy pleasure (or, for thy will, or for 
that which thou wiliest) they are and were created." 
Rev. iv, 11. The word translated pleasure is the 
standing word for loill. God's will is the law of the 
moral universe, comprehending all that is good to man 
and moral beings. It was their birthright by creation, 
but now forfeited only by disobedience. " Sin entered 
into the world, and death by sin." 

N'ow, we repeat it, all salvation, or redemption, is of 
the nature of restitution, or restoration j the putting of 
things back as they were in their normal, or, more 
properly, their primeval, state. Christ, undertakes this 
work, and hence, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature, [or creatioi%\ : old things are passed aw^ay ; 
behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. v, 17. 
"Ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have 
put on the new man, which is renewed in know^ledge 
after the image of him that created him." Col. iii, 9, 10. 
This defines the process of restitution, so far as it re- 
spects its first and earthly stage. The whole ego — 



A Spiritual Change Required. 345 

body, soul, and spirit — is taken out from under the do- 
minion of sin and j^laced in the new and renewed rela- 
tion to God and moral law as one who is " alive from 
the dead." The moral nature being thus renewed and 
purged from sin, by a change equal to a new creation, 
now waits " for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of 
our body;" or, as the apostle again says, waiting "for 
the manifestation of the sons of God." Rom. viii, 23, 19. 
This last form — " the manifestation of the sons of God " 
— is simply an eschatological phrase, and is parallel to 
the passages " Waiting for the coming of our Lord " 
(1 Cor. i, 7); or, "When his [Christ's] glory shall be 
revealed''^ (1 Pet. iv, 13) ; or, " Salvation ready to be 
revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. i, 5) ; and such like 
phrases. The word apocalypsis, though variously trans- 
lated, is identical in meaning in all. 

The Scriptures bearing u})on the point of our argu- 
ment, that the spiritual regeneration here upon the 
earth is, in so far, a restitution, are too numerous to 
render here. But, morally, provision is made, in the 
redemptive economy, for the sanctification and new 
life in Christ of all men, and is thus explained by the 
apostle: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead 
in trespasses and sins. . . . But God, who is rich in 
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even 
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together 
with Christ (by grace ye are saved) ; and hath raised us 
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus." And again: "Christ also 
loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he 
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water 
by the word, that he might present it to himself a 
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 
such thing; but that it should be holy and without 
blemish." Eph. ii, 1, 4-6, and v, 25-27. 
23 



346 ESCHATOLOGY. 

This moral and spiritual restoration is not at all in- 
ferior in rank or magnitude or divine creative origin 
to the second stage of the great restitution, which com- 
pletes the grand and glorious scheme of redemption. 
The first stage relates to man during his probationary 
earthly life; the second to his future and immortal 
state. The first is limited chiefly to the moral and in- 
tellectual sphere; the second stage comprehends not 
only the more perfect advancement of the moral and 
intellectual nature, but the wide range of what we may 
denominate the perfect external conditions, adaptations, 
and appetency of our being in the resurrection and the 
" new creation." 

The apostle Peter uses the word restitutio?! in its 
broadest sense, embracing the restitutive process be- 
longing to this life, and also to that which is to come. 
Thus: "Jesus Christ, . . . whom the heaven must re- 
ceive, until the times of restitution of all things, lohich 
God hath spoJcen by the mouth of all his holy prophets 
since the world began." Acts iii, 20, 21. 

And speaking of John Baptist, the attending angel 
touched the salient points of his mission: "And he 
[John] shall go before him [Christ] in the spirit and 
power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to (or 
with) the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom 
of the just : to make ready a people prepared for the 
Lord." Luke i, 17. 

The attitude of the Church universal toward the 
human race, in this period of probation, is that of invi- 
tation and warning: "And the Spirit and the bride [the 
Church] say, Come. And let him that heareth say, 
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever 
will, let him take the water of life freely. . . . He which 
testifieth these things saith. Surely I come quickly : 
Amen. Even so, come. Lord Jesus." Rev. xxii, 17, 20. 



The End of Gospel Dispensation. 347 



CHAPTER XXYIII. 

THE END OF GOSPEL DISPENSATION. 
Christ "delivers up the kingdom to God, even tlie Father." 

The only way to understand the sublime import of 
the subject of this chapter is to interpret it literally, or, 
as we should say, historically. This simplest method 
is the only one. The apostle Paul has stated it thus: 
" Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered 
up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall 
have put down all rule, and all authority and power. 
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under 
his feet. The last enemj^ that shall be destroyed is 
death. . . . And when all things be subdued unto him, 
then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that 
put all things under him, that God may be all in all." 
1 Cor. XV, 24-28. 

" The end,'''' to reXog, here marks the final terminus 
of the gospel period, at which juncture Christ will have 
accomplished the purposes of his mediation, and now 
*' delivers up the kingdom to God, even the Father." 
This "kingdom" is the mediatorial kingdom; that is, 
the administration of the moral government on the 
basis of atonement and the provisions of gospel grace. 
Christ received this investiture of regal authority at 
the moment that infinite wisdom determined the gospel 
plan, and holds it till the end of offered mercy shall be 
accomplished. The language is very explicit: "He 
must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." 
Then, " when he shall have put down all rule, and all 
authority and power," " he shall deliver up the kingdom 



348 ESCHATOLOGT. 

to God, even the Father." "And when all things shall 
be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be 
subject unto him that put all things under him, that 
God may be all in all." That is, upon the consumma- 
tion of the gospel scheme the functions of th'e media- 
torial office are now no longer required, or, rather, have 
been fulfilled, and Christ, as mediatorial king, resigns 
back the well-accomplished office to the Father, and the 
moral government resumes its former status as before 
the fall. 

There are two epochs, then, or measurements of time, 
Avhich fully sustain this view, and vindicate the doc- 
trines here set forth; the one dates the gospel plan, the 
otiier consummates it. John brings to view the former, 
thus: "In the beginning, ev apxi], was the Word." 
John i, i. The Septuagint Greek has the same epoch. 
Gen. i, 1. "In the beginning, ev agx'f], God created," 
etc.; and in each is found the primal date of all things, 
in the sublime Hebrew utterance : 

" In the beginning, D'^f'N^S, God created," etc. It 
will be observed that Moses gives the date of crea- 
tion as relates to the history of our race; John gives 
the date of Christ, the eternal Word, as he first ap- 
peared with the Father in his relation both to creation 
and to redemption. In John i, 1-14, the sublime exhibit 
has nothing to surpass it. 

This twofold date of the first and of the last — the 
beginning and the consummation — is richly set forth 
by Christ as his own descriptive title of Lord of the 
universe. Thus Christ asserts himself to be the " Alpha 
and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the 
Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, 
the Almighty." Rev. i, 8. And in verse 11: "I am 
Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." And in 
chapter ii, 8, " These things saith the first and the last." 



The Exd of Gospel Dispensation. 349 

And in chapter xxi, 6, "And he said unto me, It is done. 
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." 
And chapter xxii, 13, "I am Alpha and Omega, the 
beginning and the end, the first and the last." 

These titles, in their broad sweep of meaning, iden- 
tify Christ with both the origin and the conclusion of 
the gospel dispensation. John the apostle says of 
Christ: "The same was in the beginning with God" 
(John i, 2); and Paul says : "Then cometh the end, 
when he [Christ] shall have delivered up the kingdom 
to God, even the Father." 1 Cor. xv, 24. And thus 
Christ comprehends in himself the extreme limits 
and functions vital to the gosj^el dispensation. And 
thus the prophet of old declares it: "For unto us a 
child is born, unto us a son is given: and the govern- 
ment shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall 
be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The 
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isa. ix, 6. 

AYe shall not reach satisfactory results here unless 
we adopt and clearly apprehend the Gospel as a pro- 
visional act, or scheme, for a specific end and time, 
which, having been accomplished, is to pass away. The 
results are abiding, eternal, but the methods are pro- 
visional, and this proviso is, in government and ethics, 
as commanding and abiding as fundamental law. We 
must mark the distinction between the moral govern- 
ment administered upon principles of pure, essential 
law, such as before the fall, and moral government 
administered upon a proviso — namely, the atonement ; 
which suffers for a time with transgression, and even 
provides a system of suasive influences to induce men 
to repent, and thereby escape penalty and become recon- 
ciled to God the Lawgiver. But let no one mistake the 
character of God and of moral government, and pre- 
sume that God, having shown so great mercy toward 



350 ESCHATOLOGY. 

offenders, will easily abate punishment to the guilty; 
not considering that pardon offered with j^roviso can- 
not be obtained without proviso. Salvation offered on 
condition, cannot be claimed but on condition. " God 
is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord reveng- 
eth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his 
adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 
The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will 
not at all acquit the wicked." Nah. i, 2, 3. 

There is a class of passages directly supportive of 
the doctrine before us w^hich we have not hitherto 
called up. We speak of the word Tre/zTrw, send^ as a 
word designating the commission of the Saviour both 
in its breadth and its continuance. We are not to 
judge of this unpretentious title by its common use, but 
by what is said and affirmed of him and by him in holy 
Scripture. 

We adduce a few passages illustrative of our meaning. 
Thus: Jesus said, "My meat is to do the will of him that 
sent me, and to finish his work'''' (John iv, 34; v, 30, 36, 
37); "The father that sent me beareth witness of me" 
(viii, ]6, 18); "No man can come to me, except the 
Father which hath seoit me draw him" (vi, 44); "That 
the world may believe that thou hast sent me " (John 
xvii, 21); "As thou [the father] hast sent me [the 
Son] into the world, even so have I also sent them into 
the world" (ver. IS); "The Father loveth the Son, and 
hath given all things into his hand'''' (iii, 35). '■'All 
things are delivered tint o me of my Father: and no man 
knoweth the Son, but the Father ; neither knoweth any 
man the Fatlier, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the 
Son will reveal him." Matt, xi, 27. 

These, with numerous other kindred passages which 
we need not quote, fully support the doctrine that the 
dispensation of grace, the total gospel plan, devolved 



The Exd of Gospel Dispexsatiox. 351 

for execution upon Christ, the son of God, the second 
person in the adorable Trinity. And thus, when the 
time for his first advent had arrived, it is said: "When 
tlie fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his 
Son, made of a woman, made under the law," etc. Gal. 
iv, 4. This difference of the two advents, so widely 
apart in their times of manifestation, and the specific 
objects of their coming, must be carefully kept 
distinct. 

We have already stated that the entire scheme of 
gospel grace is limited and marked by epochs, some of 
which have (most of which have) passed, and some sub- 
periods are yet to come. But the whole is marked by 
traceable limitations. The Saviour has all the epochs 
and all the world-movements in his hands and in his 
power, and when he was upon the earth he often re- 
ferred to this fact, but they did not fully comprehend 
him. He had a work to do which, when performed, 
the " end of the world would come." " I have a bap- 
tism," says Jesus, "to be baptized with; and how am I 
straitened till it be accomplished." Luke xii, 50. 
Although this referred more dh'ectly to his deatli, whicli 
he was to offer for the world's atonement, yet it has 
an onward outlook to the end of all things. 

The great work of redemption had followed events 
along down the ages, and the strong and mighty 
Saviour, faithful to the work he had assumed, is fast 
closing up the avenues of world-powers j^reparative of 
his finished work. 

The now unfinished work of the Redeemer will come 
in its time, in all its beauty and grandeur. The Lord 
of glory thus speaks concerning it: "The works which 
the Father hath given me to finish^ the same works that 
I do." John V, 3G. "3Iy meat is to do the will of him 
that sent me, and to finisli his ?6'07'/t'." John iv, ?,. 



352 ESCIIATOLOGV. 

*' Looking unto Jesus, the autlior [beginner] and finisher 
of our faith." Heb. xii, 2. 

The thought we wish here to present is that Christ 
comes in his second advent to '^finish " the Avork to 
which all previous dispensations have pointed, and 
wiiich they have promised. For this Christ was com- 
missioned, and ** sent " into the world. For this the 
title of "Alpha and Omega, the heginning and the end 
the first and the last " was given. On this hypothesis 
all eschatology must rest. 

" The new creation of the Spirit begins immediately 
upon the day of Pentecost, in simple and gradual ful- 
fillments of w^hat had before been written: the whole 
typical history of Israel is reproduced in its essential 
reality in the true Israel of God, and will go on till the 
new heaven and the new earth are created, wherein 
dwelleth righteousness." * 

There is a slight analogy to the present subject 
found in the exigencies of human governments which 
we refer to, not as a perfect illustration, but as a slight 
resemblance. We refer to the practice, in times of 
great public peril, of concentration of power in one man 
till the danger shall be past. The Romans had a cus- 
tom, in times of great peril, of concentrating* all power 
of government in one man, for a given time, whom they 
called a dictator, and when the war was OA^er, and the 
danger past, the extreme power was resigned and the 
ordinary functions of government resumed. And thus 
will it be with Christ our Lord. He assumes the chief- 
est heights of governing power for our cause, and will, 
when the fixed hour comes, resign the mediatorial 
power. " Then cometh the end, when he shall have 
delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father: 
when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority 
* Stier's Words of (lie Lord Jesus, vol. i, p, 137. 



The End of Gospel Dispexsatiox. 353 

and power." 1 Cor. xv, 24. And tlius with all the 
epochs. Christ will not violently destroy the dispensa- 
tional epochs, but will fulfill them. He says: "I am 
not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say 
unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one 
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be ful- 
filled." Matt. V, 17, 18. This language of the Saviour 
does not limit its application to the IMosaic economy 
only, but to the outmost limit of revelation, and Christ, 
as Lord and royal executive of the moral government, 
gives ample assurance of faithful enforcement of the 
law and the promises. 



354 EsClIATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 

Considered as Supplying an Incentive to Holj Living, and the Law of 
Christian Activity. 

The second coming, or advent, of our Lord Jesus 
Christ is less the theme of the j^ulpit and of christian 
thought, as a pending reality, and less the daily topic 
of devout and saintly conversation now than in apos- 
tolic times, or even fifty years ago. A darker spot on 
our spiritual horizon has not appeared! A salutary 
awakening is, however, dawning upon the churches- 
" The venerated Dr. Archibald Alexander was accus- 
tomed to say that, although he understood but little of 
the Apocalypse, he perused it constantly, because a 
special blessing was promised to those who read it." * 
This is a genuine profession and practice. Faith is as 
reasonable a ground of action as knowledge, and this 
applies to temporal things as to spiritual. 

Both Christ and his apostles were faithful to treat 
this doctrine as of fundamental and practical impor- 
tance. It was to be a beacon-light, a daily admoni- 
tion and realization of readiness and joyful expectation 
" till he come." As a motion to readiness to meet the 
Lord, it is the concentration of all suasive gospel 
truth — a principle of action which focalizes all others. 
As a law of action it must, also, be familiar, of ready 
apprehension, undoubted, authoritative; clearly binding 
as any law of the decalogue. The truth for daily 

* Dr. Ramsey's Spiritual Kingdom. Introduction by Dr. Hoge, 
page 1 1 . 



Christ's Second Coming. 355 

thonglit must lie on the surface, for the common mind, 
and for ready appeal to the written word. 

We begin our citations with the words of Christ: 
'* Watch, therefore; for ye know not what hour your 
Lord doth come. . . . Therefore be ye also ready: for in 
such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. . . . 
Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, 
shall find so doinsj. . . . But and if that evil servant 
shall say in his heart. My lord delayeth his coming; and 
shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and 
drink with the drunken ; the lord of that servant shall 
come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an 
hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, 
and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: 
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 
xxiv, 42-51. " Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the 
coming of the Lord. ... Be ye also patient; stablish 
your hearts: for the coining of the Lord clrcacetJi nighP 
Jas. V, 7, 8. Peter, in the same strain of admonition and 
exhortation, speaking directly and specifically of the last 
day and the coming of Christ, or "the day of the Lord," 
says: "Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dis- 
solved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all 
holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting 
unto the coming of the day of God?" He also warns the 
churches " that there shall come in the last days scoffers, 
w^alking after their own lusts, and saying. Where is the 
promise of his coming *? for, since the fathers fell asleep, 
all things continue as they were from the beginning of 
the creation." 2 Pet. iii, 3-12. He assures them also 
that at his coming great changes shall be wrought upon 
the earth, even a "new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
dwelleth righteousness;," in view of which expectation 
he says : " Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for 
such tJilngs, he diligent that ye may he found of him 



356 ESCHATOLOGY. 

ioi peace^ without spot and hlamelessP Ver. 14. And 
again, his earnest soul warns them, "Ye therefore, 
beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest 
ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall 
from your own steadfastness." Ver. 17. 

There is a remarkable force in Paul's words (1 Thess. 
ii, 19): "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of re- 
joicing ? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord 
Jesus Christ at his coming f^ The word rendered 
presence is the same as is translated before^ or in the 
immediate presence (Matt, xxv, 32): ^^ before him 
shall be gathered,"* etc., and as that was a final judg- 
ment-scene so is this; as if Paul had said, " Our hope, 
joy, and crown of rejoicing are even ye yourselves when 
ye stand in the immediate presence of the Lord Jesus 
Christ at his coming." His rejoicing did not culminate 
in their conversion, but in their final acquittal and ap- 
proval before Christ the Judge, Avhen "the Son of man 
shall come in his glory, and sit upon tlie throne of his 
glory." The same allusion occurs in Jude 24, 25 : 
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, 
and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory 
with exceeding joy," etc. Here the soul is brought 
directly into, or "before" the presence of Christ the 
Judge for final reward. He has been "kept from fall- 
ing" by Christ during his probationary period, and now 
is " set before the presence of Christ's glory with ex- 
ceeding joy." 

To the same effect is the j)rayer of Paul in 1 Thess. 
V, 23: "And the very God of peace sanctify jow wholly; 
and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be 
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ:' 

In these and a multitude of other passages of kindred 
import the period of watching and praying and suffer- 



Christ's Second Coming. 357 

ing with Christ is to precede his coming, and during 
this probationary period the coming of Christ is to be 
kept before the eye of faith and hope as a leading ob- 
ject of desire and expectation; the fundamental motive 
power to keep alive the words and work of Christ, and 
live in instant readiness for his appearing. Every-where 
the coming of Christ is associated with the final, ever- 
lasting reward of the righteous. 

There is one hortatory item in this glorious second 
advent which should be noticed here. The coming of 
Christ is in various places spoken of as near at hand. 
Thus, Jas. V. 8, " The coming of the Lord draioeth nigh.'''' 
Phil, iv, 5, "The Lord is at hancV Ileb. x, 25-37: 
"But exhorting one another: and so much the more as 
ye see the day approaching. . . . For yet a little while 
and he that shall coine will co7ne, and loill not tarry.'''' 
1 Pet. iv, 7: "But the end of all things is at hand: be 
ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." " Behold, 
I come quickly. . . . He which testifieth these things 
saith. Surely I come quickly." Rev. xxii, 10, 20. Rev. 
i, 3 : " Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the 
words of this prophecy, and keep those things which 
are written therein: for the time is at hand.'''' Rev. 
xxii, 7, 10, 12, 20: "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is 
he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this 
book." "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this 
book: for the time is at hand.'''' "And behold I come 
quickly." " He which testifieth these things saith. Sure- 
ly I come quickly.''^ 

From these and such like passages there have been 
those in all ages of the Christian Church who have in- 
ferred that the "second coming" is literally imminent, 
or, as we speak of events, as within a few solar j^ears. 
But now, after eighteen hundred years, these predic- 
tions remain unfulfilled, the long looked for Saviour 



358 ESCHATOLOGY. 

has not yet appeared. Undoubtedly there is a ground 
of interpretation of these most solemn words of prom- 
ise which harmonizes all things, and confirms the most 
literal meaning of prophecy. We tread reverently on 
this holy ground, as Moses at the burning bush. 

1. And first, it is in harmony with the analogy of 
Messianic j^rophecy to take time for the fulfillment of 
its predictions and dispensations. Thus the patriarchal 
dispensation stood twenty-five hundred and fifty years, 
and terminated in that of Moses; the Mosaic stood 
fourteen hundred and fifty, and terminated in that 
of Christ, and the Christian dispensation, which 
has stood nearly two thousand years. During all 
these leading dispensations, or periods, a lively hope 
of Messiah was kept before the eye of faith, with dif- 
ferent, though ever increasing, degrees of light. The 
Messiah and his times were often brought before the 
mind and described as a living reality. 

2. The apostle Paul specifically declares that the com- 
ing of Christ was then, at that time, in the indefinite 
future. Hear him: " Now, we beseech you, brethren, con- 
cerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our 
gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken 
in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, 
nor by letter as from us, as that the day of the Lord is 
now present; let no man beguile you by any means: for 
that day shall not come, except there come a falling 
cncay [Greek, aj^ostasy] first, and that man of sin be 
revealed the son of perdition," etc. 2 Thess. ii, 1-10. 
The " 7nan of sin " and the " apostacy " are simultane- 
ous, and must be dated, in their working and the shap- 
ing of their individuality, not later than the fifth cent- 
ury, especially the last half of the fifth century. But 
of the date of the " destruction " of the man of sin 
whom the "Lord shall consume with the spirit of his 



Christ's Second Coming. 359 

mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming," 
the apostle does not speak. Yet he warns his brethren, 
in view of the shortness of time, to faithfuhiess. He 
says: "Ye see the day approaching." Heb. x, 25. 
From all this it is evident that there is on this subject 
in the mind of infinite Wisdom somewhere a ground 
of harmony and consistency. 

3. Every thing depends upon the point of view from 
which the inspired writers utter their admonitions as to 
the shortness of the time till the advent and epiphany 
of the Son of man. If we look at these things as God 
does, with whom " one day is as a thousand years, 
and a thousand years as one day " (2 Pet. iii, 8), we 
shall see the reason for counting the Messianic epochs 
as short. They are short as compared with the eter- 
nity of consequences beyond; short as compared 
with the work to be accomplished and the events 
to transpire within their respective limits; short to 
each soul separately when it is considered that the 
terminus of human life, — the only years of gracious 
opportunity, — connects practically with the coming of 
Christ and the solemnities of the final judgment. The 
predicted shortness of time, therefore, is comparative 
shortness. 

4. Added to all, and the true ground of harmony in all, 
is faith. Faith annihilates time and space, and gives us 

"Future and past subsisting noiv.^' 

It is the office of faith to realize — make real — the things 
unseen and spiritual. It is "the assurance of things 
hoped for, the knowing [by test or trial] of things not 
seen." Heb. xi, 1. New Version. With this "strong 
commanding evidence " of the things 

" Unknown to feeble sense, 
Unseen by reason's glimmering ray," 



360 ESCHATOLOGY. 

the soul is swayed and bowed in obedient will, as if the 
unseen were visible to the natural eye. Thus Moses 
acted, and "endured seeing him who is invisible." 
Heb. xi, 27. Faith is as strong as a principle of 
action, as knowledge, and as rational and legitimate. 
Faith brings the second advent of the Saviour near. 
Its realities are anticipated, and the true believer 
walks^ and lives in the midst of scenes all fresh and 
glorious. The soul is brought in conscious sympathy 
and fellowship with Christ, and with his great redemp- 
tive plan; and this oneness absolves and annihilates the 
accidents of time and distance. His faith is not founded 
in circumstances, but in the word of God. The child 
thinks that to be long which the man accepts as near at 
hand. And by faith the Christian sees in advance 

" The grand millennial reign begun." 

It is thus we are warranted in counting the " latter 
day " epoch oi* dispensation as short. All the previous 
prophetic periods had an outlook of an age beyond ; but 
now we have reached the last hill-top, whose ample 
sweep of vision is bounded only by the final and the 
eternal. Hitherto redemption has been carried forward 
as an unfinished work, unfolding its richness and its 
methods in progressive steps. Now the grand consum- 
mation is fully in sight, and "the times of restitution 
of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of 
all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 
iii, 21) are upon us, "even at the door." 

" Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such 
things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in 
peace, without spot, and blameless." II Peter, iii, 14. 
"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come 
quickly: Amen, Even so, come. Lord Jesus." Rev. 
xxii, 20. 



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